Much has been talked in the papers just a while ago about the bingo industry being hurt because of the anti cigarette law in the UK. Things have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded big tax cuts to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. But will the net version of this classic game present a salvation, or might it not compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo has been an classic game usually played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game recently had witnessed a recent increase in acceptance with younger members of society opting to go to the bingo parlours in place of the discos on a weekend. All this is about to be destroyed with the legislating of the smoking ban across England and Wales.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes while marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 all public areas will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most common places where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The effects of the anti smoking law can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already not permitted in the bingo parlours. Profits have plunged and the business is literally struggling for its life. But where did the players go? Surely they haven’t given up on this familiar game?
The answer is on the web. Gamblers know that they can bet on bingo from their computer while enjoying a beer and smoke and in the end, enjoy big prizes. This is a recent development and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course betting on on the web is unlikely to replace the communal part of heading over to the bingo parlor, but for a group of players the governing edicts have left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little option.