Much has been written in the papers just a while ago concerning the bingo industry being hit as a consequence of the smoking ban in Britain. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded big aid to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But will the online adaptation of this traditional game present a salvation, or will it in no way compare to its bricks and mortar relative?
Bingo has been an established game generally played by the "blue haired" generation. However the game lately had experienced a recent return in appeal with younger people opting to go to the bingo parlours rather than the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to change with the legislating of the cigarette ban throughout United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes at the same time dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public area will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most popular areas where many people enjoy smoking.
The results of the anti smoking law can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already not permitted in the bingo parlors. Numbers have dropped and the business is absolutely struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Of course they haven’t given up on this enduring game?
The answer is online. People know that they can play bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a cocktail and fag and still have a chance at monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent development and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course wagering on on the internet will never replace the social part of heading down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of men and women the rules have left a good many bingo players with no choice.