Much has been reported in the press recently about the bingo industry being hurt as a consequence of the smoking ban in England. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded big tax cuts to help keep the industry afloat. However will the internet variation of this quintessential game present a reprieve, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar opposite?
Bingo has been an established game normally played by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game lately had undergone a recent comeback in appeal with younger people deciding to go to the bingo halls in place of the clubs on a Friday night. This is all about to be destroyed with the enacting of the smoking ban throughout England and Wales.
No longer will enthusiasts be allowed to puff on cigarettes while marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 every public place will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most favored areas where people enjoy smoking.
The effects of the smoking ban can already be seen in Scotland where cigarettes are already barred in the bingo parlors. Numbers have plunged and the business is beyond a doubt struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Of course they haven’t forgotten this classic game?
The answer is on the internet. Gamblers realise that they can bet on bingo using their computer whilst enjoying a beverage and cigarette and in the end, have a chance at monstrous prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course gambling on on the net could never replace the social portion of heading over to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left a lot of bingo enthusiasts with no alternative.
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