City bingo hall practically goes down in smoke because of smoking ban:
With the implementation of the smoking ban, about 80% of the players who used to attend the bingo hall in Edinburgh have stopped using the hall. With this reduced patronage, the hall is forced to close down.
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The gala Bingo hall in West Granton once boasted of having about 8,000 customers visiting it per week. However the number now has reduced to as low as 1,500 people; this is all because of the smoking ban.
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Taking this drop in business in mind, the club manager, Janet Duncan finally decided to close the club on Saturday night. This club was opened 12 and half years ago and was functioning well as a bingo hall till the smoking ban.
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The closure of this hall proved to be devastating to local customers who had been regulars to the club. To many people, this club had been a source of social interaction and a great means of keeping busy and passing time.
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Not only did this club feel the pinch of the smoking ban. In fact, the smoking ban had affected a drop in the clientele of many other bingo clubs. However another manager, who did not disclose his name, stated that though the smoking ban has affected gaming establishments, the more people get used to it, the more likely that they will return to the hall over time. According to him, bingo is nowhere on the way out of the gambling arena.
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According to the Bingo Association, the body representing bingo, about 40 clubs have closed across UK in the past year itself.
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