An abundance has been stated in the press just a while ago concerning the bingo industry being hit as a consequence of the smoking ban in the UK. Things have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for big tax cuts to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. However can the internet variation of this traditional game offer a lifeline, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar relative?
Bingo has been an age old game usually enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game recently had experienced a recent return in popularity with younger members of society deciding to visit the bingo halls instead of the clubs on a Friday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the enacting of the cigarette ban across UK.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes whilst marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 every public place will not be permitted to allow smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most popular locations where players enjoy smoking.
The effects of the cigarette ban can already be looked at 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 the players go? Certainly they haven’t given up on this enduring game?
The answer is online. Players are now realizing that they can participate in bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a cocktail and smoke and still enjoy big prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself almost perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the social aspect of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of people the law has left a good many bingo players with no option.
This entry was posted on December 1, 2021, 2:25 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.