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Much has been talked in the papers just a while ago about the bingo industry being hit because of the anti smoking law in the UK. Things have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded big tax cuts to help keep the industry alive. However does the internet version of this traditional game offer a escape, or might it not compare to its real life opposite?

Bingo has been an established game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game of late had undergone a recent return in appeal with younger men and women deciding to go to the bingo parlours instead of the clubs on a Saturday night. This is all about to get flipped on its head with the introduction of the cigarette ban throughout UK.

No more will gamblers be able to puff on cigarettes whilst marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 all public places will not be allowed to permit cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most favorite areas where players like to smoke.

The effects of the anti smoking law can already be looked at in Scotland where smoking is already not allowed in the bingo parlors. Players have plummeted and the industry is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Certainly they have not abandoned this classic game?

The answer is online. People know that they can participate in bingo in front of their computer at the same time enjoying a beer and cigarette and still enjoy massive prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself just about perfectly with the anti smoking law.

Of course gambling on online could never replace the collective portion of heading down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of men and women the governing edicts have left a good many bingo players with little choice.