[ English ]

An abundance has been reported in the press not long ago concerning the bingo industry being hit as a result of the cigarette ban in the UK. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big aid to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But does the web version of this traditional game offer a reprieve, or will it in no way compare to its land based opposite?

Bingo has been an familiar game generally enjoyed by the "blue haired" generation. However the game of late had experienced a recent comeback in appeal with younger people deciding to go to the bingo parlors in place of the clubs on a Saturday night. This is all about to change with the legislating of the cigarette ban throughout UK.

Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes at the same time dabbing numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 all public areas will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most favorite locations where people like to puff on cigarettes.

The outcome of the anti cigarette law can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already barred in the bingo parlors. Numbers have plunged and the business is beyond a doubt fighting for to stay alive. But where did the players go? Certainly they have not cast aside this established game?

The answer is on the web. People are now realizing that they can gamble on bingo from their computer while enjoying a beverage and smoke and in the end, enjoy big prizes. This is a recent anomaly and has happened bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.

Of course playing on the internet will never replace the collective aspect of going over to the bingo parlour, but for a group of people the law has left a good many bingo players with no alternative.