A lot has been talked in the papers recently about the bingo industry struggling because of the anti smoking law in the UK. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge aid to assist in keeping the businesses alive. However can the online version of this traditional game present a salvation, or might it never compare to its bricks and mortar peer?
Bingo is an established game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game of late had witnessed a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger people opting to hit the bingo parlors in place of the discos on a weekend. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the introduction of the cigarette ban all over United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be permitted to smoke whilst marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most favored locations where players like to smoke.
The effects of the anti cigarette law can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo parlours. Numbers have dropped and the business is absolutely fighting for its life. But where have the players gone? Certainly they haven’t deserted this enduring game?
The answer is on the net. Players realise that they can enjoy bingo using their computer while enjoying a cocktail and cig and in the end, enjoy huge jackpots. This is a recent development and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course betting on on the net could never replace the social part of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of men and women the law has left a good many bingo players with no alternative.