A lot has been reported in the press not long ago about the bingo industry struggling as a consequence of the anti smoking law in Britain. Things have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for big tax breaks to assist in keeping the businesses alive. But does the internet adaptation of this traditional game present a salvation, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar relative?
Bingo is an familiar game normally played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game recently had undergone a recent increase in popularity with younger people deciding to go to the bingo halls instead of the bars on a weekend. This is all about to be destroyed with the introduction of the anti smoking law around UK.
Players will no longer be able to smoke whilst marking numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 all public areas will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most favored locations where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The outcome of the anti cigarette law can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already forbidden in the bingo parlors. Players have plunged and the industry is literally fighting for its life. But where have the players gone? Certainly they have not deserted this established game?
The answer is on the internet. People are now realizing that they can gamble on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a beverage and smoke and in the end, enjoy monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent development and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the collective portion of heading over to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of men and women the governing edicts have left a good many bingo players with no alternative.