An abundance has been written in the papers recently concerning the bingo industry struggling as a consequence of the smoking ban in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded huge aid to assist in keeping the businesses afloat. However will the online adaptation of this traditional game offer a escape, or will it never compare to its real life equivalent?
Bingo is an established game generally played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game lately had undergone a recent return in popularity with younger men and women deciding to hit the bingo halls instead of the clubs on a Friday night. All this is about to change with the enacting of the anti smoking law all over UK.
No more will enthusiasts be allowed to puff on cigarettes whilst dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public location will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common locations where people enjoy smoking.
The effects of the anti smoking law can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already forbidden in the bingo halls. Profits have dropped and the industry is beyond a doubt fighting for to stay alive. But where did the players go? Certainly they haven’t abandoned this established game?
The answer is on the web. People are now realizing that they can participate in bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a beer and fag and in the end, enjoy huge prizes. This is a recent development and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course playing online is unlikely to replace the collective portion of heading down to the bingo hall, but for a group of people the law has left a number of bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.