[ English ]

A lot has been written in the press just a while ago concerning the bingo industry being hurt because of the anti cigarette law in England. Things have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has requested huge aid to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. However does the web variation of this quintessential game present a reprieve, or might it in no way compare to its land based opposite?

Bingo has been an age old game generally played by the "blue rinse" generation. In any case the game of late had undergone a recent return in popularity with younger members of society deciding to hit the bingo parlors rather than the discos on a weekend. All this is about to be reversed with the enacting of the cigarette ban throughout United Kingdom.

No longer will players be allowed to smoke at the same time marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of 2007 every public place will no longer be permitted to allow cigarettes in their locations and this includes Bingo parlors, which are possibly the most popular places where folks like to smoke.

The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be seen in Scotland where smoking is already illegal in the bingo parlours. Players have plunged and the industry is beyond a doubt struggling for its life. But where did all the players go? Of course they haven’t cast aside this familiar game?

The answer is online. Gamblers realize that they can wager on bingo in front of their computer at the same time enjoying a cocktail and cig and still enjoy big jackpots. This is a recent phenomenon and has happened just about perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.

Of course playing on the web is unlikely to replace the social aspect of heading down to the bingo parlor, but for a group of players the governing edicts have left many bingo players with little alternative.