A lot has been stated in the papers not long ago concerning the bingo industry being hit because of the anti smoking law in England. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge tax breaks to help keep the industry afloat. However can the net variation of this quintessential game provide a lifeline, or might it not compare to its bricks and mortar peer?
Bingo is an familiar game usually enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. Although the game of late had undergone a recent comeback in appeal with younger men and women opting to go to the bingo parlours instead of the discos on a weekend. This is all about to get flipped on its head with the enacting of the smoking ban throughout UK.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes while marking numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public location will not be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most common areas where players enjoy smoking.
The effects of the anti cigarette law can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already banned in the bingo halls. Profits have plunged and the industry is absolutely struggling for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Certainly they haven’t abandoned this established game?
The answer is online. People realise that they can participate in bingo using their computer while enjoying a beverage and cigarette and in the end, enjoy huge prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.
Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the communal portion of going down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of people the law has left many bingo players with no alternative.
