A lot has been reported in the papers not long ago about the bingo industry being hurt because of the anti cigarette law in England. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for huge tax cuts to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. However can the online variation of this quintessential game present a salvation, or might it not compare to its real life peer?
Bingo has been an enduring game usually played by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game lately had experienced a recent comeback in popularity with younger people opting to hit the bingo parlors rather than the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to be destroyed with the introduction of the smoking ban around United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes while dabbing numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 every public place will not be allowed to permit smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most common areas where players enjoy smoking.
The effects of the anti smoking law can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo parlours. Players have plummeted and the industry is literally fighting for its life. But where have all the players gone? Obviously they have not forgotten this classic game?
The answer is on the net. People know that they can wager on bingo in front of their computer at the same time enjoying a cocktail and fag and still enjoy massive jackpots. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the anti cigarette law.
Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the collective portion of going over to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of men and women the rules have left a good many bingo players with little choice.