Much has been reported in the press not long ago regarding the bingo industry struggling as a result of the cigarette ban in Britain. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded big tax cuts to help keep the businesses afloat. However will the online variation of this classic game provide a escape, or might it in no way compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo is an enduring game usually enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game recently had seen a recent increase in acceptance with younger members of society opting to go to the bingo parlours rather than the bars on a Saturday night. All this is about to change with the enacting of the smoking ban around Britain.
Players will no longer be able to smoke whilst marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 every public location will not be permitted to allow smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most popular locations where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the cigarette ban can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already forbidden in the bingo halls. Players have plummeted and the industry is literally fighting for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Of course they have not cast aside this classic game?
The answer is on the web. People realize that they can wager on bingo using their computer whilst enjoying a beverage and smoke and in the end, have a chance at massive cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself just about perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course playing on the net can never replace the communal aspect of heading over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the law has left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.