A lot has been talked in the papers not long ago regarding the bingo industry being hit because of the smoking ban in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive tax breaks to assist in keeping the businesses alive. But can the net adaptation of this classic game provide a salvation, or will it never compare to its land based kin?

Bingo has been an established game generally played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game recently had experienced a recent comeback in popularity with younger people deciding to go to the bingo parlours instead of the discos on a weekend. This is all about to be destroyed with the enacting of the cigarette ban around UK.

Players will no longer be permitted to smoke at the same time marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 every public area will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most favored places where people enjoy smoking.

The results of the anti smoking law can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already forbidden in the bingo halls. Players have dropped and the industry is literally struggling for its life. But where did the players go? Surely they have not given up on this established game?

The answer is on the internet. People realize that they can wager on bingo using their computer while enjoying a beverage and cig and in the end, have a chance at huge prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.

Of course gambling on online is unlikely to replace the communal aspect of going over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left many bingo players with little alternative.