Posted by Maritza | Posted in Bingo | Posted on 09-03-2024
Much has been talked in the papers recently regarding the bingo industry struggling because of the smoking ban in England. Things have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge tax breaks to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. However does the online variation of this quintessential game offer a reprieve, or might it in no way compare to its bricks and mortar kin?
Bingo has been an familiar game usually played by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game of late had witnessed a recent resurgence in popularity with younger people deciding to go to the bingo parlours instead of the bars on a weekend. All this is about to change with the legislating of the anti cigarette law throughout Britain.
Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes at the same time marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most common areas where players like to smoke.
The results of the smoking ban can already be observed in Scotland where smoking is already prohibited in the bingo halls. Numbers have plummeted and the industry is literally fighting for its life. But where have the players gone? Of course they haven’t forgotten this classic game?
The answer is online. Players know that they can enjoy bingo using their computer at the same time enjoying a cocktail and fag and in the end, have a chance at huge cash rewards. This is a recent development and has happened bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course playing on the web is unlikely to replace the collective aspect of heading down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of men and women the governing edicts have left a lot of bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.