Please gamble responsibly.
by Penny Walker
A Gala Bingo hall in Fenton near Stoke is providing a novel experience for its members and guests.
The Sentinel reported last week that the bingo venue has created an outdoor entertainment area, which allows people to smoke, drink and carry on playing numbers game machines at the same time.
It is seen as a way of bringing in visitor numbers despite the smoking ban preventing gamers from sparking up inside the bingo hall.
The bingo industry has been hit by the nationwide stumping out of public smoking with various venues closing down in the last two years since the legislation was implemented in the UK.
Commenting on the venture in his Sentinel column, Alan Cookman said that being able to drink while playing games made the Fenton experience sound like Las Vegas.
He also suggested that the bingo business did not need a smoking ban, as it had just transformed itself into a successful sector of the gaming industry.
"When it came in, the ban was every bit as disastrous for the bingo trade as it was for the licensed trade - if not more so," the writer continued.