Much has been reported in the papers recently regarding the bingo industry struggling because of the anti cigarette law in Britain. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive tax breaks to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. But will the net adaptation of this classic game present a lifeline, or might it not compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?
Bingo has been an classic game usually enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. Although the game of late had experienced a recent increase in popularity with younger people opting to hit the bingo parlors in place of the discos on a Saturday night. This is all about to be reversed with the enforcement of the smoking ban throughout England and Wales.
Players will no longer be permitted to smoke at the same time marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 every public location will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most common areas where people enjoy smoking.
The outcome of the smoking ban can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already banned in the bingo parlors. Numbers have plunged and the industry is literally fighting for its life. But where did all the players go? Obviously they haven’t abandoned this established game?
The answer is on the internet. Gamblers realize that they can wager on bingo from their computer while enjoying a beverage and smoke and in the end, enjoy big cash rewards. This is a recent anomaly and has happened bordering on perfect with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the collective part of going over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left a number of bingo players with no alternative.