![]() To make matters worse for the bingo companies, when the Government's new Gambling Act comes into force this September, bingo clubs will not be able to use so-called "Section 21" higher jackpot fruit machines. Around 60% of bingo players are thought to be smokers.īingo clubs are harder hit than pubs, which have set aside outdoor areas for smokers, because players are not allowed to use electronic terminals outside the venue.Īnd it is not just the smoking ban which is giving bingo a difficult time.Ī Rank spokesman pointed out yesterday that bingo players are charged VAT on stakes, unlike the rest of the betting industry. Some 14 bingo halls have closed in Scotland since the ban started almost a year ago and last year operators demanded a #10m tax rebate from Gordon Brown to make up for lost trade. One bar in Edinburgh reported a 25% boost last weekend as drinkers were attracted by smoke-free rooms. Publicans across the country said sales of food and drink had risen significantly since the ban came into force two weeks ago. Takings in Scottish pubs and bars have risen since the introduction of the smoking ban, confounding fears it would hit the licensed trade. Steve Baldwin, national spokesman for the Bingo Association, said yesterday as many as 200 clubs across Britain could close, with the loss of thousands of jobs, due to unfair taxes and the smoking ban. Revenues have been hit by up to 15% as players come in for shorter periods or stop going altogether, with independent bingo hall operators feeling the greatest pressure. The cold wind blowing through Britain's bingo halls is coming from the north.Ī string of previously popular bingo clubs have been forced to close in Scotland since the smoking ban was brought in there last March. ![]() Rank said the closures are in line with the group's aim of "improving the quality of its clubs' portfolio in preparation for the introduction this year of smoking bans in England and Wales".Īnd Rank said it was "inevitable" other bingo hall owners would follow suit. It announced the closure of nine of its Mecca halls across England and Wales, including its Swansea city centre Craddock Street outlet. ![]() ![]() The computer-linked National Game followed a year later, offering life-changing jackpots, and bingo palaces got street cred when the likes of Robbie Williams and Denise Van Outen started flouncing through their neon-lit hallways.Įven traditional bingo lingo, such as "two fat ladies", was ditched to avoid confusion and suddenly bingo was a thoroughly modern night out providing Wales with thousands of jobs with the prospect of expansion.īut this week, one of Britain's biggest bingo hall owners, the Rank Group, threw a spanner into the smooth-running works. Then, in 1985, a change in the law allowed multiple games on the same premises leading to glamorous, hangar-sized "bingo palaces" like those in the Mecca chain. Older generation punters with their felt-tipped bingo pens got their "eyes down" everywhere, from Rhyl to Risca. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, it became known as the game adored by slipper-wearing silver foxes. BINGO grew in popularity in Wales as part of the country's working-class club culture. ![]()
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