A lot has been talked in the papers recently about the bingo industry singing the blues as a result of the anti cigarette law in the UK. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for massive aid to help keep the industry alive. However can the net adaptation of this quintessential game provide a escape, or might it never compare to its land based equivalent?
Bingo is an established game generally played by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game of late had witnessed a recent increase in acceptance with younger members of society opting to go to the bingo parlors rather than the clubs on a Saturday night. This is all about to change with the introduction of the smoking ban all over Britain.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke at the same time dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public location will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most common areas where people like to smoke.
The results of the smoking ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already not permitted in the bingo halls. Profits have dropped and the business is absolutely fighting for its life. But where have the players gone? Certainly they have not cast aside this established game?
The answer is on the internet. Gamblers realize that they can participate in bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a cocktail and smoke and still enjoy big prizes. This is a recent development and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.
Of course gambling on on the internet is unlikely to replace the collective part of going down to the bingo parlor, but for a group of men and women the governing edicts have left a lot of bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.