Could the Cigarette Ban in England Force Bingo Players On to the Internet?

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

Much has been stated in the papers recently about the bingo industry being hurt as a consequence of the cigarette ban in England. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge aid to assist in keeping the industry from going bankrupt. But can the online adaptation of this traditional game present a reprieve, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?

Bingo has been an familiar game historically enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. However the game lately had undergone a recent increase in popularity with younger people opting to visit the bingo halls rather than the discos on a Friday night. All this is about to be reversed with the enforcement of the anti cigarette law across UK.

Players will no longer be allowed to smoke while marking numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will not be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most popular places where many people like to puff on cigarettes.

The effects of the cigarette ban can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already not permitted in the bingo parlors. Profits have plummeted and the business is literally struggling for its life. But where have the players gone? Certainly they haven’t given up on this classic game?

The answer is on the web. Players are now realizing that they can bet on bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a cocktail and fag and in the end, have a chance at big cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.

Of course gambling on on the net is unlikely to replace the communal aspect of heading over to the bingo hall, but for a group of men and women the law has left a good many bingo players with little choice.