A lot has been written in the papers just a while ago concerning the bingo industry singing the blues as a result of the anti smoking law in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge aid to assist in keeping the industry alive. However can the online version of this traditional game offer a reprieve, or might it never compare to its bricks and mortar opposite?
Bingo has been an age old game historically enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game of late had experienced a recent return in popularity with younger people deciding to hit the bingo parlours in place of the clubs on a weekend. This is all about to get flipped on its head with the legislating of the smoking ban around UK.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes at the same time marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 all public places will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most popular areas where folks enjoy smoking.
The outcome of the smoking ban can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already banned in the bingo parlors. Players have dropped and the industry is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Certainly they have not deserted this age old game?
The answer is online. People know that they can bet on bingo from their computer at the same time enjoying a beer and smoke and in the end, enjoy massive cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course gambling on on the net will never replace the communal aspect of going down to the bingo hall, but for a group of players the governing edicts have left a lot of bingo players with no choice.