Much has been stated in the papers recently regarding the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the cigarette ban in Britain. Things have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big tax breaks to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. But can the online variation of this traditional game provide a salvation, or might it not compare to its bricks and mortar peer?
Bingo has been an familiar game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game recently had undergone a recent comeback in acceptance with younger people deciding to visit the bingo parlors instead of the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the legislating of the anti cigarette law throughout England and Wales.
Players will no longer be able to smoke while dabbing numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 all public areas will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most common places where people enjoy smoking.
The results of the anti smoking law can already be seen in Scotland where smoking is already forbidden in the bingo halls. Profits have plunged and the business is beyond a doubt struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Certainly they haven’t forgotten this age old game?
The answer is online. People realize that they can participate in bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a cocktail and cig and in the end, have a chance at huge jackpots. This is a recent anomaly and has happened almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course gambling on on the web can never replace the social portion of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of players the law has left a lot of bingo players with no option.