A lot has been written in the press just a while ago concerning the bingo industry struggling as a result of the smoking ban in Britain. Conditions have grown so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested massive tax cuts to help keep the businesses alive. But can the online variation of this quintessential game present a reprieve, or might it not compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo is an familiar game historically played by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game of late had experienced a recent comeback in appeal with younger men and women deciding to hit the bingo parlors instead of the clubs on a Saturday night. All this is about to be reversed with the introduction of the smoking ban all over UK.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes whilst dabbing numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 every public place will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most favored areas where players enjoy smoking.
The results of the cigarette ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo halls. Numbers have plummeted and the industry is absolutely struggling for its life. But where have the players gone? Surely they haven’t cast aside this established game?
The answer is on the net. Gamblers realize that they can wager on bingo from their computer at the same time enjoying a cocktail and cigarette and still have a chance at monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course playing on the web is unlikely to replace the social portion of heading over to the bingo parlour, but for a group of men and women the rules have left a number of bingo players with little alternative.