Posted by Jace | Posted in Bingo | Posted on 11-03-2025
An abundance has been stated in the press not long ago regarding the bingo industry struggling as a consequence of the smoking ban in England. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive tax cuts to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But does the internet version of this traditional game provide a escape, or will it in no way compare to its bricks and mortar peer?
Bingo has been an ancient game normally played by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game of late had witnessed a recent return in popularity with younger people deciding to go to the bingo halls in place of the discos on a weekend. All this is about to change with the enforcement of the cigarette ban across United Kingdom.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke whilst marking off their numbers. From the summer of ‘07 all public places will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most favored places where players like to smoke.
The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo parlors. Profits have dropped and the business is literally fighting for its life. But where have the players gone? Surely they haven’t abandoned this ancient game?
The answer is on the net. Players realise that they can gamble on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a cocktail and cigarette and in the end, enjoy monstrous prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has happened almost perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course gambling on on the web will never replace the communal part of going down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left a lot of bingo players with little alternative.