Can the Smoking Ban in the UK Drive Bingo Enthusiasts On to the Net?
A lot has been talked in the papers not long ago about the bingo industry singing the blues as a consequence of the smoking ban in Britain. Things have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for big tax breaks to help keep the businesses afloat. However does the internet version of this traditional game provide a escape, or will it not compare to its land based kin?
Bingo is an age old game historically played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game lately had undergone a recent return in acceptance with younger people opting to visit the bingo halls rather than the discos on a weekend. This is all about to change with the introduction of the anti cigarette law around United Kingdom.
No more will enthusiasts be able to smoke while marking off their 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 common places where many people like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the anti smoking law can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already prohibited in the bingo parlours. Players have plunged and the business is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Surely they haven’t abandoned this familiar game?
The answer is online. Players realize that they can play bingo from their computer while enjoying a beer and cigarette 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 wagering on on the internet is unlikely to replace the communal portion of heading down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the law has left many bingo players with little alternative.
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