Much has been written in the papers recently concerning the bingo industry being hit because of the cigarette ban in England. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge tax breaks to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However will the online adaptation of this traditional game present a salvation, or might it not compare to its real life opposite?
Bingo is an ancient game usually played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game lately had undergone a recent increase in appeal with younger men and women deciding to go to the bingo parlors in place of the discos on a Saturday night. This is all about to get flipped on its head with the legislating of the smoking ban all over Britain.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes whilst marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 every public location will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most favored locations where many people like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the smoking ban can already be observed in Scotland where smoking is already forbidden in the bingo parlors. Profits have dropped and the industry is absolutely fighting for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Surely they haven’t cast aside this age old game?
The answer is online. Players realize that they can gamble on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a drink and cig and in the end, enjoy monstrous jackpots. This is a recent development and has happened bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.
Of course betting on on the internet is unlikely to replace the social portion of going over to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of men and women the governing edicts have left many bingo players with no choice.
