A lot has been written in the press just a while ago concerning the bingo industry being hit as a consequence of the cigarette ban in England. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for massive aid to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However will the internet variation of this classic game present a reprieve, or will it never compare to its real life peer?
Bingo is an established game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game of late had seen a recent return in appeal with younger people deciding to go to the bingo parlors rather than the discos on a weekend. This is all about to be reversed with the enforcement of the smoking ban all over England and Wales.
Players will no longer be able to smoke at the same time dabbing numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 every public location will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most favorite areas where many people like to smoke.
The results of the cigarette ban can already be observed in Scotland where smoking is already illegal in the bingo halls. Numbers have dropped and the industry is beyond a doubt fighting for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Certainly they haven’t given up on this established game?
The answer is on the internet. Players realise that they can wager on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a cocktail and fag and still have a chance at huge jackpots. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself just about perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course betting on on the net is unlikely to replace the communal part of heading over to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of players the rules have left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.