A lot has been written in the papers just a while ago concerning the bingo industry being hit as a consequence of the cigarette ban in Britain. Conditions have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge aid to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. But does the online adaptation of this quintessential game provide a reprieve, or will it never compare to its real life relative?
Bingo has been an familiar game historically enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. However the game lately had experienced a recent return in appeal with younger members of society deciding to hit the bingo halls rather than the bars on a weekend. This is all about to be reversed with the enacting of the smoking ban all over United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes while dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 all public places will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most favored locations where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the cigarette ban can already be seen in Scotland where cigarettes are already barred in the bingo halls. Players have dropped and the business is literally fighting for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Obviously they have not abandoned this age old game?
The answer is on the internet. People realize that they can enjoy bingo from their computer at the same time enjoying a drink and smoke and still have a chance at monstrous jackpots. This is a recent development and has timed itself just about perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course playing on the internet will never replace the communal aspect of going down to the bingo hall, but for a group of men and women the law has left a lot of bingo players with little alternative.