Much has been reported in the press not long ago concerning the bingo industry being hit as a result of the anti smoking law in Britain. Conditions have grown so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for massive aid to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. However will the web version of this traditional game present a reprieve, or will it in no way compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?
Bingo is an age old game usually played by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game of late had seen a recent comeback in popularity with younger men and women opting to hit the bingo halls in place of the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the enacting of the smoking ban around England and Wales.
No more will gamblers be permitted to puff on cigarettes at the same time dabbing numbers. From the summer of 2007 all public places will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most favored areas where players like to puff on cigarettes.
The outcome of the anti cigarette law can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo halls. Numbers have plunged and the industry is beyond a doubt struggling for its life. But where did the players go? Obviously they have not given up on this ancient game?
The answer is online. People realize that they can play bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a drink and cigarette and in the end, have a chance at monstrous jackpots. This is a recent development and has happened bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.
Of course gambling on online could never replace the collective part of going down to the bingo parlour, but for a group of people the governing edicts have left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.