An abundance has been talked in the papers just a while ago regarding the bingo industry being hit because of the anti smoking law in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for massive tax cuts to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. However can the internet adaptation of this traditional game offer a escape, or might it not compare to its real life kin?
Bingo has been an age old game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game lately had witnessed a recent return in popularity with younger men and women opting to hit the bingo halls instead of the bars on a Saturday night. This is all about to get flipped on its head with the introduction of the smoking ban around Britain.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes while dabbing numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 all public areas will not be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most common places where players enjoy smoking.
The outcome of the smoking ban can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo halls. Profits have plunged and the business is beyond a doubt struggling for its life. But where did the players go? Of course they have not cast aside this enduring game?
The answer is on the internet. Players realise that they can wager on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a drink and cigarette and still enjoy massive cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the social part of heading down to the bingo hall, but for a group of people the governing edicts have left a good many bingo enthusiasts with no choice.