Much has been talked in the press recently about the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the smoking ban in Britain. Things have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded massive aid to help keep the businesses afloat. However does the online adaptation of this classic game present a reprieve, or might it in no way compare to its bricks and mortar peer?
Bingo is an enduring game usually played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game of late had undergone a recent resurgence in appeal with younger people opting to go to the bingo parlors rather than the bars on a Friday night. All this is about to change with the introduction of the cigarette ban all over UK.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes while marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common locations where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The effects of the cigarette ban can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already banned in the bingo parlors. Players have dropped and the business is literally fighting for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Certainly they have not abandoned this established game?
The answer is on the net. Gamblers realise that they can participate in bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a beer and cigarette and in the end, enjoy monstrous prizes. This is a recent development and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the communal aspect of going down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of people the rules have left many bingo enthusiasts with no option.