An abundance has been reported in the press not long ago regarding the bingo industry being hit as a consequence of the cigarette ban in the United Kingdom. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for huge tax breaks to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However can the web variation of this traditional game offer a salvation, or will it never compare to its real life kin?
Bingo has been an familiar game normally played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game of late had undergone a recent return in acceptance with younger people deciding to hit the bingo halls instead of the clubs on a weekend. All this is about to be destroyed with the legislating of the anti cigarette law all over England and Wales.
Players will no longer be allowed to puff on cigarettes at the same time marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 all public locations will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most common locations where players enjoy smoking.
The outcome of the anti smoking law can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already banned in the bingo parlours. Numbers have dropped and the industry is literally struggling for its life. But where did all the players go? Of course they haven’t abandoned this familiar game?
The answer is on the web. Gamblers realize that they can participate in bingo using their computer at the same time enjoying a drink and smoke and still have a chance at big prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has happened bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.
Of course gambling on on the internet is unlikely to replace the collective portion of heading down to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of people the governing edicts have left a lot of bingo players with little choice.
