Could the Smoking Ban in Britain Force Bingo Enthusiasts On to the Net?
An abundance has been talked in the press just a while ago regarding the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the smoking ban in England. Things have grown so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for big tax cuts to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. However does the net adaptation of this quintessential game present a lifeline, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar opposite?
Bingo is an familiar game usually played by the "blue haired" generation. In any case the game of late had seen a recent comeback in acceptance with younger people deciding to go to the bingo halls instead of the bars on a weekend. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the enforcement of the anti smoking law across Britain.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke whilst marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 all public places will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most common locations where folks like to smoke.
The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo parlors. Players have plummeted and the industry is beyond a doubt struggling for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Certainly they haven’t given up on this familiar game?
The answer is online. Gamblers realise that they can play bingo from their computer while enjoying a cocktail and cigarette and still enjoy big prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself just about perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course playing online is unlikely to replace the social portion of going down to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of players the law has left a number of bingo players with little choice.