A lot has been written in the press just a while ago about the bingo industry struggling as a consequence of the smoking ban in the UK. Things have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested massive aid to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But does the web version of this quintessential game provide a lifeline, or might it in no way compare to its bricks and mortar relative?
Bingo has been an age old game usually played by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game lately had witnessed a recent return in acceptance with younger people deciding to go to the bingo halls instead of the discos on a Saturday night. This is all about to be destroyed with the enacting of the anti smoking law around UK.
No more will players be allowed to smoke at the same time marking numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 every public area will not be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most favored areas where folks enjoy smoking.
The effects of the cigarette ban can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo halls. Numbers have plummeted and the business is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Obviously they have not abandoned this age old game?
The answer is online. People are now realizing that they can participate in bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a beverage and smoke and in the end, have a chance at monstrous prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has happened almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course gambling on online is unlikely to replace the collective portion of going down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of people the law has left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.