A lot has been written in the papers not long ago about the bingo industry singing the blues because of the cigarette ban in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded massive aid to help keep the industry afloat. But does the online variation of this traditional game present a lifeline, or will it never compare to its real life opposite?
Bingo has been an familiar game normally enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game recently had undergone a recent increase in popularity with younger men and women opting to hit the bingo halls in place of the bars on a Friday night. This is all about to be reversed with the enforcement of the smoking ban all over United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be permitted to smoke at the same time marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 every public location will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most popular areas where players like to smoke.
The outcome of the anti smoking law can already be observed in Scotland where smoking is already banned in the bingo parlours. Profits have plummeted and the industry is literally fighting for its life. But where did all the players go? Of course they haven’t abandoned this familiar game?
The answer is on the internet. Players know that they can wager on bingo using their computer whilst enjoying a drink and smoke and in the end, have a chance at monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.
Of course wagering on on the web could never replace the communal aspect of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left many bingo enthusiasts with little option.
