A lot has been written in the papers recently about the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the anti cigarette law in the United Kingdom. Things have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge tax breaks to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However will the internet adaptation of this classic game provide a lifeline, or will it never compare to its real life relative?
Bingo has been an ancient game normally enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. However the game of late had seen a recent return in acceptance with younger men and women deciding to go to the bingo parlours in place of the bars on a Saturday night. All this is about to be reversed with the legislating of the cigarette ban around United Kingdom.
No more will enthusiasts be able to puff on cigarettes while marking numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public place will not be permitted to allow smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most common places where players enjoy smoking.
The effects of the smoking ban can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already illegal in the bingo parlours. Numbers have plunged and the business is literally fighting for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Of course they have not given up on this familiar game?
The answer is online. People realize that they can play bingo using their computer at the same time enjoying a beer and fag and in the end, enjoy monstrous jackpots. This is a recent development and has timed itself just about perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course wagering on on the internet is unlikely to replace the social aspect of going down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the rules have left a lot of bingo players with no option.