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Might the Anti Cigarette Law in Britain Take Bingo Players On to the Internet?
A lot has been written in the papers recently about the bingo industry being hit as a result of the smoking ban in the UK. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge aid to assist in keeping the businesses afloat. However will the net variation of this traditional game present a salvation, or might it not compare to its real life equivalent?
Bingo is an familiar game usually enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. Although the game lately had experienced a recent comeback in acceptance with younger members of society deciding to go to the bingo parlours in place of the clubs on a Saturday night. This is all about to be destroyed with the legislating of the smoking ban all over England and Wales.
Players will no longer be able to smoke while dabbing numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 all public areas will not be permitted to allow smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most popular areas where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the anti cigarette law can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already not allowed in the bingo halls. Profits have plunged and the business is literally fighting for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Obviously they haven’t deserted this familiar game?
The answer is on the web. Players realize that they can bet on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a beer and cig and in the end, enjoy big prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course playing online is unlikely to replace the social portion of heading down to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of players the rules have left a number of bingo enthusiasts with no choice.