A lot has been talked in the papers just a while ago regarding the bingo industry singing the blues as a consequence of the cigarette ban in the United Kingdom. Things have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge tax breaks to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However does the online version of this classic game provide a reprieve, or will it in no way compare to its real life peer?
Bingo is an familiar game normally enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game lately had experienced a recent resurgence in appeal with younger men and women deciding to go to the bingo parlors in place of the clubs on a weekend. All this is about to be reversed with the enforcement of the smoking ban all over Britain.
No more will gamblers be allowed to smoke while dabbing numbers. From the summer of 2007 all public places will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most popular areas where people enjoy smoking.
The effects of the anti smoking law can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already forbidden in the bingo halls. Numbers have plunged and the business is literally fighting for its life. But where did the players go? Certainly they haven’t given up on this age old game?
The answer is online. People realize that they can bet on bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a cocktail and cig and still enjoy massive prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened bordering on perfect with the anti smoking law.
Of course betting on online is unlikely to replace the communal portion of going over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of men and women the rules have left a good many bingo players with little choice.