Much has been stated in the papers recently concerning the bingo industry struggling as a result of the cigarette ban in the United Kingdom. Things have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive aid to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. But will the net variation of this quintessential game offer a lifeline, or might it not compare to its land based equivalent?

Bingo has been an age old game generally played by the "blue haired" generation. For all that the game of late had undergone a recent return in appeal with younger men and women deciding to visit the bingo halls in place of the clubs on a Saturday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the legislating of the anti smoking law throughout England and Wales.

Players will no longer be allowed to smoke while marking off their numbers. From the summer of 2007 every public location will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most popular places where players like to smoke.

The results of the anti smoking law can already be looked at in Scotland where cigarettes are already barred in the bingo parlors. Profits have plunged and the business is literally fighting for its life. But where did all the players go? Obviously they have not given up on this age old game?

The answer is online. People realize that they can gamble on bingo using their computer whilst enjoying a drink and smoke and in the end, enjoy monstrous jackpots. This is a recent anomaly and has timed itself just about perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.

Of course wagering on on the net can never replace the collective aspect of going down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the rules have left a lot of bingo enthusiasts with little alternative.