Could the Cigarette Ban in England Take Bingo Players On to the Web?
A lot has been written in the papers recently regarding the bingo industry singing the blues because of the anti smoking law in England. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for big aid to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. However will the net adaptation of this quintessential game present a reprieve, or might it never compare to its land based equivalent?
Bingo has been an age old game historically played by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game of late had seen a recent comeback in popularity with younger people deciding to hit the bingo parlors instead of the bars on a Friday night. This is all about to be reversed with the introduction of the cigarette ban across Britain.
Players will no longer be able to smoke at the same time marking numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 all public places will not be permitted to allow smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most common places where people enjoy smoking.
The results of the smoking ban can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already illegal in the bingo halls. Numbers have dropped and the industry is absolutely fighting for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Obviously they have not abandoned this classic game?
The answer is on the internet. Players realise that they can play bingo from their computer whilst enjoying a beer and fag and in the end, enjoy big cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself just about perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course wagering on on the net will never replace the communal aspect of heading over to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of players the law has left a number of bingo enthusiasts with no alternative.
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