An abundance has been talked in the papers recently about the bingo industry struggling as a result of the cigarette ban in England. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive aid to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. However can the net variation of this classic game provide a salvation, or might it never compare to its real life peer?
Bingo has been an ancient game generally enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game of late had experienced a recent return in appeal with younger men and women deciding to go to the bingo halls instead of the clubs on a Friday night. This is all about to be reversed with the enforcement of the anti cigarette law throughout England and Wales.
Players will no longer be allowed to puff on cigarettes whilst marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 all public places will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most popular locations where players like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the smoking ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already barred in the bingo parlors. Players have dropped and the industry is absolutely struggling for its life. But where have the players gone? Of course they haven’t cast aside this familiar game?
The answer is on the internet. Players are now realizing that they can bet on bingo using their computer whilst enjoying a beer and cigarette and still enjoy massive prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course gambling on on the net is unlikely to replace the collective part of going over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.