Much has been written in the papers not long ago about the bingo industry being hurt as a consequence of the cigarette ban in Britain. Conditions have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded massive tax cuts to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. However will the internet variation of this quintessential game provide a escape, or will it not compare to its real life kin?
Bingo has been an familiar game normally enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game lately had undergone a recent resurgence in popularity with younger men and women opting to visit the bingo halls instead of the discos on a weekend. This is all about to change with the enforcement of the cigarette ban all over England and Wales.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes at the same time marking numbers. From the summer of ‘07 all public places will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most popular areas where people like to smoke.
The results of the cigarette ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already illegal in the bingo halls. Numbers have plunged and the business is absolutely struggling for its life. But where did the players go? Surely they have not abandoned this established game?
The answer is on the web. People realize that they can participate in bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a drink and smoke and still have a chance at big cash rewards. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course gambling on on the web could never replace the social aspect of heading over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the rules have left many bingo enthusiasts with no alternative.