A lot has been written in the press just a while ago concerning the bingo industry being hurt because of the anti cigarette law in England. Conditions have grown so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for huge tax cuts to help keep the industry afloat. However can the net adaptation of this quintessential game offer a escape, or might it not compare to its bricks and mortar opposite?
Bingo is an classic game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game lately had witnessed a recent return in popularity with younger men and women deciding to go to the bingo parlours in place of the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the enforcement of the anti smoking law all over UK.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke while marking off their numbers. From the summer of 2007 every public location will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most favored locations where people like to puff on cigarettes.
The effects of the smoking ban can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already illegal in the bingo parlours. Profits have plunged and the business is absolutely fighting for its life. But where have all the players gone? Obviously they have not abandoned this enduring game?
The answer is online. People are now realizing that they can play bingo using their computer at the same time enjoying a drink and cigarette and still have a chance at monstrous 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 social aspect of heading over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of people the law has left a number of bingo players with no alternative.
