A lot has been talked in the press recently about the bingo industry struggling because of the smoking ban in the United Kingdom. Things have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge tax cuts to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. But can the web version of this classic game provide a reprieve, or might it never compare to its land based equivalent?
Bingo is an established game usually enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game lately had experienced a recent comeback in popularity with younger members of society opting to go to the bingo parlors in place of the bars on a Friday night. All this is about to be reversed with the enacting of the anti smoking law all over United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes whilst marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 every public place will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most favored places where many people enjoy smoking.
The results of the cigarette ban can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already illegal in the bingo parlours. Profits have dropped and the business is beyond a doubt fighting for to stay alive. But where did the players go? Obviously they haven’t abandoned this age old game?
The answer is on the internet. Gamblers are now realizing that they can wager on bingo using their computer whilst enjoying a cocktail and cigarette and in the end, enjoy monstrous prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself almost perfectly with the anti cigarette law.
Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the collective part of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of players the rules have left a good many bingo players with no alternative.