A lot has been written in the press recently concerning the bingo industry singing the blues as a result of the cigarette ban in England. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for massive aid to assist in keeping the businesses afloat. But will the online variation of this quintessential game offer a salvation, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?
Bingo has been an familiar game usually enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game of late had experienced a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger men and women opting to go to the bingo parlors in place of the bars on a Friday night. All this is about to be reversed with the enforcement of the cigarette ban all over United Kingdom.
No more will players be allowed to smoke whilst dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public place will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most favorite places where people enjoy smoking.
The effects of the anti cigarette law can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo parlors. Profits have dropped and the industry is absolutely fighting for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Certainly they haven’t forgotten this familiar game?
The answer is on the internet. Players know that they can play bingo using their computer whilst enjoying a drink and cig and in the end, enjoy massive jackpots. This is a recent development and has happened almost perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course playing on the internet is unlikely to replace the social part of heading down to the bingo parlor, but for a group of men and women the law has left a lot of bingo players with little option.