An abundance has been reported in the papers not long ago concerning the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the cigarette ban in the United Kingdom. Things have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive tax breaks to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. However can the online version of this classic game provide a salvation, or might it never compare to its bricks and mortar relative?
Bingo has been an enduring game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game lately had experienced a recent comeback in appeal with younger people opting to visit the bingo parlors in place of the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the legislating of the smoking ban all over Britain.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes whilst marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 every public area will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most popular places where many people enjoy smoking.
The outcome of the smoking ban can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already forbidden in the bingo parlors. Numbers have plunged and the business is beyond a doubt fighting for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Obviously they haven’t abandoned this age old game?
The answer is on the net. People realise that they can enjoy bingo using their computer at the same time enjoying a beverage and smoke and still have a chance at big jackpots. This is a recent development and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course wagering on on the web can never replace the communal part of heading over to the bingo parlour, but for a group of men and women the rules have left many bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.
