Much has been stated in the papers recently concerning the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the anti smoking law in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested massive tax cuts to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However does the online variation of this quintessential game present a salvation, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar opposite?
Bingo has been an familiar game generally enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. However the game lately had undergone a recent resurgence in appeal with younger men and women deciding to hit the bingo halls instead of the bars on a weekend. All this is about to be reversed with the introduction of the smoking ban around UK.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke at the same time marking numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will not be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most common places where players enjoy smoking.
The outcome of the anti smoking law can already be seen in Scotland where cigarettes are already illegal in the bingo halls. Players have plummeted and the business is absolutely fighting for its life. But where have the players gone? Certainly they have not forgotten this classic game?
The answer is on the internet. People are now realizing that they can wager on bingo from their computer while enjoying a cocktail and smoke and still enjoy huge cash rewards. This is a recent development and has happened just about perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course betting on on the net can never replace the social portion of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a group of people the law has left a good many bingo enthusiasts with no alternative.
