Much has been reported in the press not long ago about the bingo industry singing the blues as a consequence of the cigarette ban in the UK. Conditions have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big tax cuts to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. However does the net version of this quintessential game offer a lifeline, or might it in no way compare to its bricks and mortar kin?
Bingo is an classic game historically enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game of late had witnessed a recent comeback in acceptance with younger members of society deciding to hit the bingo parlors rather than the bars on a Saturday night. All this is about to change with the enacting of the anti smoking law around Britain.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke at the same time marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 all public places will not be permitted to allow smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most favored locations where people enjoy smoking.
The results of the smoking ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already banned in the bingo halls. Players have plummeted and the industry is literally struggling for its life. But where have the players gone? Obviously they have not abandoned this familiar game?
The answer is on the web. People realise that they can gamble on bingo from their computer at the same time enjoying a drink and cigarette and still enjoy massive cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti smoking law.
Of course gambling on on the web could never replace the collective portion of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of men and women the governing edicts have left a number of bingo players with no alternative.