Much has been reported in the papers recently regarding the bingo industry struggling because of the smoking ban in the UK. Things have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big aid to assist in keeping the industry alive. But will the internet adaptation of this traditional game provide a salvation, or might it never compare to its land based equivalent?
Bingo is an established game usually played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game recently had seen a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger people deciding to hit the bingo parlors instead of the discos on a Friday night. All this is about to be reversed with the enacting of the smoking ban throughout United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be able to smoke whilst dabbing numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 all public areas will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most common locations where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the anti cigarette law can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already barred in the bingo halls. Profits have plunged and the business is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Certainly they have not abandoned this classic game?
The answer is on the net. Gamblers know that they can bet on bingo from their computer at the same time enjoying a drink and fag and in the end, enjoy huge cash rewards. This is a recent development and has happened just about perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course wagering on on the net could never replace the communal aspect of going down to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left many bingo players with little alternative.