Much has been stated in the press just a while ago about the bingo industry being hurt as a consequence of the cigarette ban in England. Things have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested massive tax breaks to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. However can the net version of this classic game offer a reprieve, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar opposite?
Bingo has been an ancient game usually enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game of late had witnessed a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger members of society opting to go to the bingo parlours rather than the bars on a Friday night. All this is about to be destroyed with the introduction of the anti smoking law all over United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be allowed to puff on cigarettes whilst marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 all public areas will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common locations where people enjoy smoking.
The effects of the anti cigarette law can already be observed in Scotland where smoking is already illegal in the bingo parlors. Players have plunged and the business is literally fighting for its life. But where have the players gone? Of course they haven’t forgotten this enduring game?
The answer is on the net. Players are now realizing that they can bet on bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a beer and cig and in the end, have a chance at huge cash rewards. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course playing on the web is unlikely to replace the collective part of heading over to the bingo hall, but for a group of players the rules have left a number of bingo players with no option.