Bingo Hall Gambling In Ohio Sees Decrease Due To Smoking Laws

It used to be commonplace for people to gather on a given night at the local church and play Bingo for a couple hours, that is not the case anymore in Ohio, where smoking laws have caused a drop in participation.

Although not being the only reason for the decrease in live Bingo games, the smoking laws have definitely been the driving force behind the games becoming less popular.

Margaret Fletchine, a 67 year old retiree from Cleveland had this to say, "Me and my friends used to go to Bingo at church every Friday night, but now some of my friends stopped going because they couldn't smoke anymore, so now I just play online."

Fletchine brings up another reason for the decrease in live games, the internet. Bingo sites are popping up all over the place online and players are finding it much more convenient to just sign in and play rather than having to travel.

The live games cannot compete with the payouts that are available online further making it difficult to lure people out of their homes to attend live Bingo halls.

Although the internet is hurting business, ultimately it is the smoking ban that is driving these players away, some even to other states.

It is reported that in Pennsylvania, there has been an increase in players who are traveling from Ohio to play in their Bingo halls, where smoking is legal still.

The estimate in Ohio is that Bingo halls in the state have seen a 15 to 20 percent decrease in their business since the smoking laws went into effect.

Whether the reason is smoking laws, or online Bingo, the fact is that live Bingo is not what it once was in the state, and probably never will be again.

October 15, 2007
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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