Much has been written in the press just a while ago about the bingo industry singing the blues as a result of the smoking ban in England. Things have grown so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for big aid to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However does the online version of this traditional game offer a lifeline, or might it never compare to its bricks and mortar kin?
Bingo has been an enduring game usually played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game of late had experienced a recent return in popularity with younger people opting to visit the bingo parlours instead of the clubs on a weekend. This is all about to be destroyed with the legislating of the anti smoking law throughout England and Wales.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes at the same time marking numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public location will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most favored locations where people like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the anti cigarette law can already be seen in Scotland where cigarettes are already banned in the bingo parlours. Numbers have plummeted and the business is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Certainly they have not deserted this familiar game?
The answer is on the net. Players realize that they can participate in bingo in front of their computer at the same time enjoying a drink and fag and in the end, enjoy big cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course betting on on the web will never replace the collective aspect of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a group of players the governing edicts have left many bingo players with little option.