A lot has been talked in the press recently regarding the bingo industry singing the blues as a consequence of the smoking ban in Britain. Conditions have grown so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive aid to assist in keeping the industry alive. However will the internet variation of this quintessential game present a lifeline, or might it not compare to its real life relative?
Bingo has been an classic game generally played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game of late had undergone a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger members of society opting to visit the bingo halls instead of the bars on a Saturday night. This is all about to be reversed with the enforcement of the smoking ban all over England and Wales.
Players will no longer be allowed to puff on cigarettes at the same time marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 all public locations will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most common areas where many people like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the anti smoking law can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already illegal in the bingo parlours. Numbers have plunged and the industry is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Certainly they have not given up on this familiar game?
The answer is on the internet. Gamblers know that they can wager on bingo from their computer while enjoying a cocktail and cigarette and still have a chance at monstrous jackpots. This is a recent development and has timed itself almost perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course betting on on the web can never replace the collective aspect of going down to the bingo parlor, but for a group of people the governing edicts have left many bingo players with little option.