Can the Anti Cigarette Law in the UK Drive Bingo Enthusiasts Online?
An abundance has been talked in the press recently regarding the bingo industry struggling because of the cigarette ban in Britain. Things have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big aid to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. But can the online adaptation of this classic game offer a reprieve, or might it not compare to its land based peer?
Bingo is an familiar game usually enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game of late had undergone a recent return in appeal with younger people deciding to visit the bingo parlors in place of the bars on a weekend. This is all about to change with the enacting of the anti cigarette law throughout England and Wales.
Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes at the same time marking off their numbers. From the summer of ‘07 all public areas will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most favored places where folks like to puff on cigarettes.
The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be observed in Scotland where smoking is already banned in the bingo halls. Profits have plummeted and the industry is beyond a doubt struggling for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Of course they haven’t deserted this classic game?
The answer is online. Players realise that they can enjoy bingo from their computer while enjoying a beer and cigarette and still enjoy massive prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course wagering on on the web will never replace the communal part of heading over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of men and women the law has left a number of bingo players with little choice.