[ English ]

An abundance has been stated in the press just a while ago regarding the bingo industry struggling as a consequence of the cigarette ban in England. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for big tax cuts to help keep the businesses alive. However does the online variation of this quintessential game offer a reprieve, or will it not compare to its real life equivalent?

Bingo is an enduring game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game lately had witnessed a recent comeback in popularity with younger members of society deciding to go to the bingo halls instead of the discos on a weekend. All this is about to be destroyed with the enforcement of the anti smoking law around England and Wales.

Players will no longer be able to smoke whilst marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 all public places will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most favorite places where people like to smoke.

The outcome of the anti smoking law can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already prohibited in the bingo parlours. Profits have dropped and the industry is literally struggling for its life. But where have the players gone? Of course they haven’t cast aside this age old game?

The answer is on the internet. Gamblers realize that they can play bingo using their computer while enjoying a beer and cigarette and still have a chance at monstrous cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.

Of course gambling on on the net is unlikely to replace the collective portion of going down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of men and women the rules have left a good many bingo players with no alternative.