An abundance has been talked in the press just a while ago concerning the bingo industry singing the blues as a consequence of the smoking ban in England. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for massive aid to help keep the industry alive. However does the web version of this traditional game present a escape, or might it never compare to its land based kin?
Bingo is an established game historically played by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game of late had undergone a recent resurgence in appeal with younger people opting to visit the bingo parlors in place of the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to change with the enforcement of the smoking ban all over England and Wales.
Players will no longer be permitted to smoke whilst marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 every public location will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most common areas where folks enjoy smoking.
The effects of the anti cigarette law can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already not permitted in the bingo parlors. Players have plummeted and the industry is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Of course they have not given up on this established game?
The answer is on the web. Gamblers realise that they can enjoy bingo in front of their computer at the same time enjoying a drink and cigarette and still have a chance at huge cash rewards. This is a recent development and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course betting on online is unlikely to replace the communal part of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a group of men and women the rules have left a lot of bingo enthusiasts with little option.