Can the Smoking Ban in England Drive Bingo Enthusiasts On to the Internet?
Sunday, 29. January 2017
A lot has been reported in the press recently concerning the bingo industry struggling because of the anti cigarette law in the United Kingdom. Conditions have grown so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge aid to help keep the businesses afloat. But can the net version of this classic game offer a reprieve, or will it never compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo is an age old game normally played by the "blue haired" generation. Although the game of late had experienced a recent return in acceptance with younger men and women opting to go to the bingo halls rather than the clubs on a Friday night. This is all about to change with the enacting of the anti smoking law throughout England and Wales.
Players will no longer be permitted to smoke whilst dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 all public places will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most favorite locations where folks like to smoke.
The effects of the anti cigarette law can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already prohibited in the bingo parlours. Numbers have plummeted and the business is beyond a doubt struggling for to stay alive. But where did the players go? Obviously they haven’t abandoned this classic game?
The answer is on the net. Players know that they can gamble on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a beer and smoke and in the end, have a chance at massive prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself just about perfectly with the anti smoking law.
Of course gambling on on the internet will never replace the collective aspect of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of people the rules have left a number of bingo players with little alternative.
Posted in Bingo by Taryn