A lot has been written in the papers not long ago regarding the bingo industry struggling because of the smoking ban in England. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive aid to help keep the industry afloat. However will the online variation of this classic game present a salvation, or will it in no way compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?
Bingo is an age old game usually enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game of late had undergone a recent return in popularity with younger men and women opting to visit the bingo parlors rather than the bars on a Saturday night. All this is about to be destroyed with the enacting of the anti cigarette law around Britain.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes while marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 all public areas will not be allowed to permit smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most popular areas where players like to smoke.
The effects of the cigarette ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already illegal in the bingo halls. Numbers have plunged and the business is absolutely struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Of course they have not forgotten this enduring game?
The answer is online. Players know that they can participate in bingo from their computer while enjoying a drink and fag and still enjoy big cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course wagering on online is unlikely to replace the social portion of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a group of men and women the governing edicts have left a number of bingo players with no option.
