Might the Smoking Ban in the UK Drive Bingo Players On to the Net?
A lot has been talked in the papers not long ago regarding the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the cigarette ban in England. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for big tax cuts to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. However can the net variation of this quintessential game offer a lifeline, or might it in no way compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo has been an established game usually enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game of late had witnessed a recent resurgence in popularity with younger people deciding to visit the bingo halls in place of the discos on a Saturday night. This is all about to be destroyed with the enforcement of the cigarette ban throughout England and Wales.
Players will no longer be allowed to puff on cigarettes whilst marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 all public areas will not be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most common places where many people enjoy smoking.
The results of the anti smoking law can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already forbidden in the bingo parlours. Profits have plummeted and the business is beyond a doubt struggling for its life. But where did the players go? Certainly they have not deserted this age old game?
The answer is on the internet. Players realize that they can wager on bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a drink and smoke and still have a chance at monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.
Of course betting on on the web is unlikely to replace the collective aspect of going over to the bingo hall, but for a group of people the rules have left a good many bingo players with no choice.
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