[ English ]

A lot has been talked in the press recently about the bingo industry singing the blues as a result of the smoking ban in Britain. Things have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested big tax cuts to assist in keeping the businesses from going bankrupt. But can the web variation of this quintessential game provide a lifeline, or might it never compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?

Bingo is an age old game normally played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game recently had seen a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger men and women opting to hit the bingo halls rather than the bars on a Friday night. This is all about to be destroyed with the enacting of the smoking ban across UK.

No more will gamblers be permitted to puff on cigarettes at the same time dabbing numbers. From the summer of ‘07 every public location will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most popular places where players enjoy smoking.

The effects of the smoking ban can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already not allowed in the bingo parlors. Numbers have plunged and the industry is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where did the players go? Certainly they haven’t abandoned this ancient game?

The answer is on the net. Gamblers know that they can bet on bingo from their computer while enjoying a cocktail and fag and still enjoy monstrous prizes. This is a recent development and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.

Of course wagering on online is unlikely to replace the communal aspect of going down to the bingo parlour, but for a group of people the governing edicts have left many bingo players with no option.