Much has been written in the press recently regarding the bingo industry being hit as a result of the cigarette ban in Britain. Conditions have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big tax breaks to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However does the net adaptation of this quintessential game offer a lifeline, or might it not compare to its real life kin?
Bingo is an familiar game usually enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game recently had seen a recent increase in acceptance with younger men and women deciding to hit the bingo parlours rather than the clubs on a Friday night. All this is about to be reversed with the enforcement of the anti smoking law all over United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes whilst marking numbers. From the summer of 2007 all public places will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most favored areas where folks enjoy smoking.
The outcome of the smoking ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already illegal in the bingo parlours. Numbers have plummeted and the business is absolutely fighting for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Of course they have not given up on this ancient game?
The answer is on the web. Players realize that they can wager on bingo using their computer while enjoying a cocktail and fag and still have a chance at massive jackpots. This is a recent development and has timed itself just about perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course gambling on on the internet can never replace the social part of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a group of people the law has left many bingo players with no option.