Ontario Bingo Halls Continue To Struggle

The smoking ban and limits on prize payouts have played havoc with Ontario’s bingo halls during the past few years causing many to close, according to the Welland Tribune.

Rick Carpenter, the general manager of Welland’s Bingo Palace, told The Tribune the area previously have 225 bingo halls but now there are just 68.

After the smoking ban went into effect, half of his clientele left, and that his establishment hasn’t made money for two years, Carpenter said.

In addition to the smoking ban deterring customers, but bingo prize limits — supposed to help bingo halls — are hurting smaller bingo operators by only allowing prizes equaling 70 percent of a bingo hall’s gross revenue during a three-month period.

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