A lot has been reported in the papers just a while ago about the bingo industry being hit as a result of the anti smoking law in Britain. Things have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested massive tax cuts to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. But will the internet version of this quintessential game provide a salvation, or will it not compare to its land based kin?
Bingo is an familiar game normally enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game recently had seen a recent comeback in acceptance with younger men and women deciding to go to the bingo parlors rather than the bars on a Saturday night. This is all about to be destroyed with the introduction of the cigarette ban around Britain.
Players will no longer be able to smoke whilst dabbing numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most common locations where players like to smoke.
The results of the anti cigarette law can already be observed in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo halls. Players have plummeted and the industry is absolutely fighting for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Of course they have not abandoned this familiar game?
The answer is online. Players are now realizing that they can gamble on bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a beer and cig and in the end, have a chance at big prizes. This is a recent development and has happened almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course playing on the net will never replace the collective portion of heading over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the law has left a number of bingo players with no option.