Much has been stated in the papers recently concerning the bingo industry being hurt because of the cigarette ban in Britain. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded massive aid to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But can the online variation of this quintessential game offer a salvation, or might it not compare to its real life equivalent?

Bingo has been an familiar game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game of late had undergone a recent increase in appeal with younger members of society deciding to hit the bingo parlours rather than the clubs on a Saturday night. All this is about to be destroyed with the enacting of the cigarette ban around United Kingdom.

No longer will gamblers be able to smoke while marking numbers. Starting in the summer of ‘07 every public place will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their venues and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most favorite areas where people enjoy smoking.

The results of the smoking ban can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already not allowed in the bingo halls. Numbers have plunged and the industry is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where have all the players gone? Obviously they haven’t deserted this established game?

The answer is online. People realise that they can gamble on bingo from their computer at the same time enjoying a beverage and cigarette and in the end, enjoy huge cash rewards. This is a recent development and has timed itself just about perfectly with the anti smoking law.

Of course gambling on on the web can never replace the communal aspect of heading down to the bingo parlour, but for a group of men and women the rules have left many bingo players with little alternative.