Might the Smoking Ban in the UK Force Bingo Enthusiasts On to the Net?
Sunday, 25. October 2015
A lot has been talked in the papers just a while ago regarding the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the anti cigarette law in the United Kingdom. Conditions have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big tax breaks to help keep the businesses afloat. However will the net adaptation of this traditional game offer a salvation, or might it in no way compare to its land based equivalent?
Bingo is an established game normally played by the "blue haired" generation. Although the game recently had witnessed a recent increase in acceptance with younger men and women opting to go to the bingo parlors rather than the discos on a weekend. All this is about to change with the introduction of the anti cigarette law throughout UK.
Players will no longer be allowed to smoke while dabbing numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 every public place will not be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most common locations where players enjoy smoking.
The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo halls. Players have dropped and the business is literally struggling for its life. But where did all the players go? Obviously they haven’t given up on this age old game?
The answer is on the internet. Players know that they can enjoy bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a drink and smoke and in the end, enjoy monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent development and has happened almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.
Of course betting on online could never replace the communal part of going over to the bingo parlor, but for a demographic of men and women the law has left a lot of bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.
Posted in Bingo by Taryn