Much has been written in the papers not long ago about the bingo industry singing the blues because of the anti smoking law in the United Kingdom. Things have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge tax breaks to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. But can the web variation of this classic game provide a salvation, or will it never compare to its land based kin?
Bingo has been an established game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game of late had seen a recent return in appeal with younger members of society deciding to hit the bingo parlours rather than the discos on a weekend. This is all about to change with the introduction of the cigarette ban around England and Wales.
Players will no longer be permitted to smoke whilst marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 every public area will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most favorite locations where many people enjoy smoking.
The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be seen in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo halls. Numbers have dropped and the business is absolutely struggling for its life. But where did all the players go? Surely they haven’t cast aside this ancient game?
The answer is on the internet. Players know that they can wager on bingo using their computer at the same time enjoying a cocktail and smoke and in the end, have a chance at big cash rewards. This is a recent development and has timed itself almost perfectly with the anti cigarette law.
Of course gambling on on the internet could never replace the social portion of going down to the bingo parlor, but for a group of men and women the law has left a lot of bingo players with no alternative.
This entry was posted on May 2, 2021, 7:25 am and is filed under Bingo. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.