Could the Smoking Ban in Britain Drive Bingo Players On to the Net?
Monday, 11. September 2017
A lot has been talked in the papers recently concerning the bingo industry singing the blues as a result of the smoking ban in the UK. Conditions have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded huge tax cuts to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However can the online variation of this quintessential game provide a escape, or will it in no way compare to its land based opposite?
Bingo has been an enduring game historically enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game recently had undergone a recent return in acceptance with younger members of society deciding to visit the bingo halls in place of the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the legislating of the anti cigarette law all over Britain.
Players will no longer be able to smoke at the same time marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common places where players like to puff on cigarettes.
The effects of the cigarette ban can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already not permitted in the bingo halls. Profits have dropped and the business is literally fighting for its life. But where did the players go? Certainly they haven’t given up on this enduring game?
The answer is on the net. Players are now realizing that they can bet on bingo using their computer at the same time enjoying a beverage and fag and in the end, enjoy big prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.
Of course betting on on the web is unlikely to replace the social portion of heading over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of people the governing edicts have left many bingo players with no choice.
Posted in Bingo by Taryn