Could the Anti Cigarette Law in the UK Take Bingo Players On to the Net?

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An abundance has been written in the papers just a while ago concerning the bingo industry being hit as a result of the cigarette ban in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive tax cuts to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However can the net adaptation of this quintessential game provide a reprieve, or might it not compare to its bricks and mortar peer?

Bingo has been an enduring game generally played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game of late had undergone a recent comeback in popularity with younger people opting to hit the bingo parlours instead of the discos on a Friday night. All this is about to change with the enforcement of the cigarette ban around Britain.

Players will no longer be permitted to puff on cigarettes whilst marking off their numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 all public areas will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most favorite places where players like to smoke.

The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be felt in Scotland where smoking is already illegal in the bingo halls. Numbers have plummeted and the industry is literally fighting for its life. But where have the players gone? Surely they have not deserted this established game?

The answer is on the internet. Players are now realizing that they can wager on bingo from their computer while enjoying a beverage and cigarette and still have a chance at massive prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.

Of course gambling on on the internet is unlikely to replace the collective portion of heading over to the bingo hall, but for a group of players the rules have left a good many bingo enthusiasts with no choice.