With gas at over $4.00 a gallon many Americans are reconsidering their driving and travel habits. The price of gas has affected almost all sectors of the economy. The stock market has taken a dive, prices are rising, and there is much uncertainty about the direction the American and world economy will take.

The rises in gas prices have hit traditional bingo halls hard, especially those in rural areas. In rural areas some players drive 20 or 30 miles one way to get to their favorite bingo hall. Many bingo players are either reducing their play or are foregoing bingo altogether. Many factors are working against the land based bingo industry. Smoking bans in many states have emptied bingo halls across the nation. In the UK smoking bans caused several bingo halls to close and hundreds of employees found themselves unemployed. It has been estimated that as many as 60% of bingo players have quit playing at bingo halls because of smoking bans.

Charitable, religious, and veterans groups have used bingo as a fundraising tool for decades. The sharp drop in the number of players has caused many bingo halls to close and several organizations have been forced to curtail their charitable work. While those in urban areas can easily use public transportation to get to their favorite bingo hall, players in rural areas are facing long drives and rising fuel prices.

Because of these combined factors many organizations are curtailing their bingo games or are doing away with them altogether. While this is bad news for traditional land based bingo, the online bingo industry has seen a significant increase in players. Despite the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 the US online bingo market remains strong. In the UK the number of players who have switched to online bingo has been a boon for UK based websites.

Online bingo offers players many benefits that land based halls cannot. Jackpots are much higher and online bingo sites operate 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Online bingo players may choose to play on auto pilot, that is, they can log on to their favorite site, select a game, and walk away from their computer to do something else. Since the internet is global in nature, players may play with other bingo aficionados from around the world. The online bingo industry is poised to accept the many new players that will make the switch due to recent developments in the economy. While land based bingo will hardly become extinct the future of online bingo has never looked brighter.

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