The Game Of Bingo The Coming Years - End Of The Boom?

Bingo has been thriving in Britain since the 1960s and every town has at least a dedicated bingo hall or a social meeting place where people play bingo at least once a week. During the last few years though there has been some major changes in the world of bingo. Firstly there is no doubt that the smoking ban which forbids smoking in enclosed areas and buildings has played a major part in the decreased admissions.

For the first time in Britain we are seeing declining attendances at bingo halls and major bingo hall chains closing some of their premises. We can抰 though simply blame the smoking ban as there are other factors to consider. There is no doubt that the increased popularity of online bingo has also played a part of the demise of bingo halls. The fact is it is far cheaper to play bingo online in your own home rather than have all the expense of travelling to a bingo hall. As online bingo sites attract players from a wider range often the prizes online are far greater than those offered at local bingo halls. Lets also not forget that most of the western world is in the grip of a heavy recession and many are losing their jobs or on a reduced income compared to a few years ago.

Lets take a look at the future of bingo and perhaps forecast the next 10 years. At the moment there are hundreds of online bingo sites available to the population of the United Kingdom. In many ways we can compare the growth of online bingo to the growth of online poker. Poker was in the same position only a few years ago but many agree the online poker boom is now over. We are now reduced to just a few poker networks compared to dozens only a few years ago. I抦 sure the same will happen with online bingo sites and as the bingo boom begins to fade the larger sites will purchases the smaller sites and as in the case of online poker in 5 years we will be left with perhaps 6 or more networks which will have swallowed up most of the smaller bingo sites.

The online bingo sites that survive will be much bigger than the existing sites this will in many ways benefit the players. Prize pools will be much bigger and the chat rooms will be far busier. The major bingo sites will further develop their sites to make them social networks perhaps even with dating and live social events. In the last year or so we have seen the first social bingo sites born and this concept is bound to be developed.

The future for bingo halls though does look bleak. The smoking ban has wiped out many of the UK抯 pubs and clubs and I抦 sure there will be no escape for bingo halls. I抦 sure many of the smaller dedicated bingo halls in small towns have no future and we will see many more closures in the next few years.

Bingo though will survive and continue to thrive online just as poker has done on the 4 or 5 major networks!