A lot has been stated in the press just a while ago regarding the bingo industry struggling as a result of the smoking ban in Britain. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge tax breaks to assist in keeping the businesses afloat. However can the net variation of this quintessential game present a escape, or might it not compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?
Bingo is an established game historically played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game recently had experienced a recent return in appeal with younger people opting to visit the bingo halls instead of the clubs on a weekend. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the legislating of the cigarette ban all over UK.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes whilst marking numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 all public locations will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most common locations where players like to smoke.
The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo halls. Players have plummeted and the business is literally fighting for its life. But where have the players gone? Obviously they have not cast aside this classic game?
The answer is on the web. People realize that they can bet on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a cocktail and smoke and in the end, have a chance at big cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself just about perfectly with the anti cigarette law.
Of course wagering on on the web can never replace the collective part of going down to the bingo parlor, but for a group of people the law has left a number of bingo players with no alternative.
