Much has been talked in the papers not long ago concerning the bingo industry singing the blues as a consequence of the smoking ban in the United Kingdom. Conditions have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big aid to help keep the businesses alive. However can the net adaptation of this traditional game offer a salvation, or will it never compare to its land based equivalent?
Bingo has been an established game generally played by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game of late had seen a recent resurgence in appeal with younger men and women opting to go to the bingo parlours in place of the discos on a Friday night. This is all about to be reversed with the introduction of the smoking ban around England and Wales.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke whilst marking off their numbers. From the summer of ‘07 all public locations will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common locations where players enjoy smoking.
The effects of the anti smoking law can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already forbidden in the bingo halls. Profits have plunged and the business is beyond a doubt fighting for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Of course they have not cast aside this enduring game?
The answer is on the web. People are now realizing that they can participate in bingo from their computer at the same time enjoying a beverage and cig and in the end, enjoy monstrous jackpots. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the anti cigarette law.
Of course gambling on online is unlikely to replace the collective aspect of heading over to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of players the law has left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little option.
