A lot has been written in the press just a while ago regarding the bingo industry being hit as a result of the cigarette ban in England. Things have grown so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for huge aid to assist in keeping the industry afloat. However does the online variation of this traditional game present a salvation, or will it never compare to its land based kin?
Bingo is an familiar game usually enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game of late had seen a recent return in appeal with younger men and women opting to visit the bingo parlours rather than the clubs on a Saturday night. All this is about to be reversed with the legislating of the cigarette ban all over England and Wales.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke whilst marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 all public areas will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most popular places where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The outcome of the anti smoking law can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo parlours. Profits have dropped and the business is literally fighting for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Of course they haven’t given up on this established game?
The answer is on the internet. People know that they can gamble on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a beer and cigarette and still enjoy massive jackpots. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened almost perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course gambling on on the net will never replace the communal part of heading down to the bingo parlor, but for a group of players the rules have left a good many bingo players with no alternative.
November 1st, 2024
Tamara
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