A lot has been reported in the papers just a while ago regarding the bingo industry being hurt as a consequence of the anti smoking law in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge tax breaks to help keep the industry alive. But does the web version of this traditional game provide a lifeline, or might it in no way compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo is an established game historically played by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game lately had experienced a recent increase in acceptance with younger people deciding to visit the bingo parlors rather than the bars on a weekend. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the legislating of the cigarette ban all over Britain.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes whilst marking numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 all public locations will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most common areas where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the cigarette ban can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo halls. Numbers have dropped and the business is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Obviously they haven’t cast aside this age old game?
The answer is on the net. Players are now realizing that they can bet on bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a drink and fag and in the end, have a chance at big jackpots. This is a recent anomaly and has happened almost perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course wagering on on the net can never replace the collective aspect of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a group of players the governing edicts have left a good many bingo enthusiasts with no option.