Much has been reported in the papers recently concerning the bingo industry being hit because of the anti smoking law in the United Kingdom. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive tax breaks to help keep the businesses alive. However can the online variation of this traditional game present a lifeline, or might it never compare to its real life peer?
Bingo is an age old game historically played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game recently had seen a recent comeback in acceptance with younger men and women deciding to visit the bingo parlours in place of the clubs on a Friday night. All this is about to be reversed with the legislating of the smoking ban around UK.
Players will no longer be able to smoke while dabbing numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will not be allowed to permit smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most popular locations where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The outcome of the anti cigarette law can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already barred in the bingo parlours. Players have plummeted and the business is beyond a doubt struggling for its life. But where have the players gone? Certainly they have not cast aside this age old game?
The answer is on the internet. Gamblers realize that they can wager on bingo using their computer while enjoying a drink and smoke and still enjoy huge cash rewards. This is a recent development and has happened bordering on perfect with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course betting on on the net is unlikely to replace the communal part of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of players the law has left a number of bingo players with little choice.