A lot has been written in the papers just a while ago concerning the bingo industry singing the blues because of the anti smoking law in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge aid to help keep the businesses alive. However does the online variation of this quintessential game offer a reprieve, or will it in no way compare to its bricks and mortar kin?
Bingo is an familiar game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game lately had seen a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger people deciding to hit the bingo parlours instead of the bars on a Friday night. All this is about to be reversed with the legislating of the smoking ban around Britain.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes whilst marking numbers. From the summer of 2007 all public locations will not be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most favored locations where many people like to smoke.
The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already banned in the bingo parlors. Numbers have plummeted and the industry is absolutely fighting for its life. But where did all the players go? Obviously they haven’t deserted this familiar game?
The answer is on the web. People realise that they can wager on bingo using their computer while enjoying a beer and cig and still have a chance at massive prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself just about perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course wagering on on the net will never replace the communal aspect of heading over to the bingo parlor, but for a group of people the rules have left a good many bingo enthusiasts with no option.
