A lot has been written in the press just a while ago about the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the cigarette ban in Britain. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive tax cuts to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However can the net version of this classic game provide a salvation, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar peer?
Bingo is an age old game historically enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game of late had witnessed a recent increase in acceptance with younger men and women deciding to visit the bingo halls rather than the clubs on a weekend. This is all about to change with the enacting of the anti smoking law around Britain.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes while dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public place will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common areas where players enjoy smoking.
The effects of the smoking ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already barred in the bingo parlors. Profits have plunged and the business is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where did the players go? Certainly they have not cast aside this age old game?
The answer is on the internet. Players are now realizing that they can wager on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a drink and smoke and still enjoy monstrous prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course wagering on on the web is unlikely to replace the social portion of heading down to the bingo parlor, but for a group of players the rules have left a number of bingo players with no alternative.