An abundance has been talked in the papers just a while ago about the bingo industry being hurt because of the smoking ban in England. Things have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for huge aid to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. However will the online version of this quintessential game present a escape, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar peer?
Bingo has been an ancient game historically played by the "blue haired" generation. However the game of late had undergone a recent resurgence in popularity with younger men and women opting to go to the bingo parlours in place of the clubs on a weekend. All this is about to be destroyed with the enacting of the smoking ban throughout England and Wales.
Players will no longer be permitted to smoke at the same time marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 every public place will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most popular locations where players enjoy smoking.
The effects of the anti smoking law can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already illegal in the bingo halls. Numbers have plunged and the industry is beyond a doubt fighting for its life. But where have all the players gone? Certainly they haven’t forgotten this age old game?
The answer is online. Gamblers realise that they can play bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a beverage and cig and still have a chance at huge jackpots. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course playing on the net can never replace the communal part of heading down to the bingo hall, but for a group of people the rules have left a number of bingo players with no choice.