Much has been talked in the papers not long ago about the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the cigarette ban in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for huge aid to assist in keeping the businesses alive. However does the net adaptation of this quintessential game present a reprieve, or might it never compare to its land based kin?
Bingo has been an ancient game usually played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game of late had witnessed a recent comeback in popularity with younger men and women deciding to visit the bingo parlors in place of the clubs on a weekend. This is all about to change with the legislating of the anti smoking law across United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be able to smoke whilst dabbing numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most favorite places where players like to smoke.
The effects of the anti cigarette law can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already barred in the bingo parlours. Players have plunged and the industry is beyond a doubt fighting for its life. But where did all the players go? Obviously they haven’t forgotten this classic game?
The answer is online. People realise that they can enjoy bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a drink and cigarette and in the end, have a chance at massive jackpots. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the communal portion of going down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left a good many bingo players with little choice.