Much has been reported in the papers just a while ago concerning the bingo industry struggling as a result of the smoking ban in Britain. Conditions have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big aid to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But does the web adaptation of this traditional game provide a lifeline, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?
Bingo is an familiar game generally played by the "blue haired" generation. Although the game of late had witnessed a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger people opting to hit the bingo halls instead of the bars on a Friday night. All this is about to be destroyed with the enacting of the cigarette ban throughout United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes whilst marking numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 all public areas will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most favorite locations where players like to smoke.
The results of the anti cigarette law can already be observed in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo halls. Players have plummeted and the business is literally fighting for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Of course they haven’t forgotten this ancient game?
The answer is online. Gamblers realize that they can wager on bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a beer and smoke and still enjoy massive cash rewards. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself just about perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course playing on the web is unlikely to replace the communal portion of going down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the rules have left a good many bingo enthusiasts with no option.