Much has been talked in the papers just a while ago about the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the smoking ban in England. Conditions have grown so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for huge tax breaks to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However can the online variation of this quintessential game offer a salvation, or might it not compare to its bricks and mortar peer?
Bingo is an established game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game of late had undergone a recent comeback in popularity with younger men and women opting to visit the bingo parlours instead of the discos on a weekend. This is all about to be reversed with the legislating of the anti cigarette law throughout England and Wales.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes at the same time dabbing numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 every public area will not be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most popular places where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The outcome of the anti smoking law can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already not permitted in the bingo parlours. Numbers have plunged and the business is beyond a doubt fighting for its life. But where have all the players gone? Surely they haven’t deserted this established game?
The answer is on the net. People know that they can play bingo using their computer while enjoying a beer and cigarette and in the end, have a chance at monstrous prizes. This is a recent development and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti smoking law.
Of course betting on on the web will never replace the social portion of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left many bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.