Much has been reported in the papers just a while ago about the bingo industry singing the blues because of the smoking ban in the United Kingdom. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge tax cuts to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. However does the net version of this traditional game present a salvation, or might it in no way compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo has been an age old game generally played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game of late had undergone a recent resurgence in appeal with younger people deciding to go to the bingo halls instead of the discos on a Saturday night. This is all about to be destroyed with the enacting of the cigarette ban across Britain.
No more will players be able to smoke at the same time marking numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 every public location will not be permitted to allow cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most popular areas where many people like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the anti cigarette law can already be seen in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo parlours. Numbers have dropped and the industry is literally struggling for its life. But where have all the players gone? Certainly they haven’t abandoned this classic game?
The answer is online. People are now realizing that they can wager on bingo from their computer at the same time enjoying a cocktail and cig and in the end, enjoy monstrous jackpots. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course wagering on on the internet will never replace the communal portion of going over to the bingo hall, but for a group of men and women the rules have left many bingo players with little option.