Much has been reported in the press recently about the bingo industry singing the blues as a result of the anti smoking law in the UK. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for big tax cuts to assist in keeping the industry alive. However does the web variation of this quintessential game provide a escape, or will it not compare to its land based equivalent?
Bingo is an enduring game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game recently had undergone a recent return in acceptance with younger members of society opting to go to the bingo parlors rather than the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to be reversed with the enacting of the smoking ban all over England and Wales.
Players will no longer be permitted to smoke whilst marking off their numbers. From the summer of 2007 every public location will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most favored locations where many people enjoy smoking.
The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already forbidden in the bingo parlours. Players have plummeted and the business is beyond a doubt fighting for its life. But where have all the players gone? Obviously they haven’t cast aside this enduring game?
The answer is on the internet. Gamblers realise that they can wager on bingo from their computer at the same time enjoying a beer and cig and in the end, enjoy monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent development and has timed itself just about perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course playing online is unlikely to replace the collective part of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a group of players the law has left a lot of bingo enthusiasts with little choice.