Posted by Jace | Posted in Bingo | Posted on 06-08-2026
Much has been talked in the press just a while ago concerning the bingo industry being hit because of the anti cigarette law in England. Things have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for big tax breaks to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But can the net variation of this quintessential game provide a escape, or might it not compare to its real life opposite?
Bingo is an familiar game usually enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game recently had undergone a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger members of society deciding to hit the bingo halls in place of the bars on a Saturday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the legislating of the smoking ban around UK.
No more will gamblers be permitted to puff on cigarettes at the same time dabbing numbers. From the summer of 2007 all public locations will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most favorite locations where people like to puff on cigarettes.
The results of the smoking ban can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already illegal in the bingo parlors. Players have plunged and the business is literally fighting for its life. But where did all the players go? Of course they haven’t deserted this established game?
The answer is on the internet. Players realise that they can bet on bingo using their computer while enjoying a cocktail and smoke and in the end, enjoy monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti smoking law.
Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the communal aspect of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of people the governing edicts have left many bingo players with little alternative.