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English ]
Much has been stated in the press just a while ago regarding the bingo industry singing the blues as a result of the smoking ban in Britain. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded huge tax cuts to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But will the net adaptation of this traditional game provide a lifeline, or might it not compare to its bricks and mortar relative?
Bingo has been an classic game generally played by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game recently had experienced a recent comeback in appeal with younger people deciding to hit the bingo halls in place of the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to be destroyed with the legislating of the anti cigarette law all over England and Wales.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes at the same time dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public area will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common places where many people like to puff on cigarettes.
The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already not permitted in the bingo parlours. Numbers have dropped and the business is absolutely struggling for its life. But where did the players go? Obviously they have not forgotten this enduring game?
The answer is online. Players realise that they can gamble on bingo from their computer while enjoying a beer and cigarette and in the end, have a chance at huge jackpots. This is a recent anomaly and has happened almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course betting on online is unlikely to replace the collective part of heading over to the bingo parlour, but for a group of players the rules have left a number of bingo players with little choice.
