Much has been reported in the papers just a while ago concerning the bingo industry struggling as a result of the anti smoking law in the UK. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive tax cuts to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However can the web adaptation of this quintessential game present a escape, or might it not compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo is an classic game generally played by the "blue haired" generation. Although the game of late had undergone a recent comeback in appeal with younger men and women deciding to hit the bingo parlours in place of the bars on a weekend. This is all about to be destroyed with the introduction of the cigarette ban all over UK.
No longer will gamblers be able to puff on cigarettes whilst dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public area will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most common locations where many people like to smoke.
The effects of the cigarette ban can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo halls. Players have plunged and the industry is beyond a doubt fighting for its life. But where did all the players go? Obviously they have not deserted this established game?
The answer is on the web. Players know that they can wager on bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a cocktail and cig and still enjoy monstrous prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has happened almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course betting on on the web can never replace the communal part of going over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of people the rules have left a number of bingo players with no alternative.