A lot has been reported in the papers just a while ago regarding the bingo industry struggling because of the smoking ban in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for huge tax cuts to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But can the web adaptation of this quintessential game present a salvation, or might it not compare to its real life opposite?

Bingo is an ancient game usually played by the "blue haired" generation. Although the game recently had undergone a recent increase in popularity with younger men and women opting to hit the bingo parlors instead of the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to get flipped on its head with the introduction of the anti smoking law across UK.

Players will no longer be able to puff on cigarettes whilst dabbing numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 every public area will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, one of the most popular areas where folks like to puff on cigarettes.

The effects of the cigarette ban can already be seen in Scotland where cigarettes are already not permitted in the bingo parlors. Players have dropped and the business is absolutely fighting for to stay alive. But where have the players gone? Surely they haven’t deserted this enduring game?

The answer is on the web. People realise that they can gamble on bingo using their computer whilst enjoying a drink and smoke and in the end, enjoy big jackpots. This is a recent anomaly and has happened almost perfectly with the ban on smoking.

Of course wagering on on the web is unlikely to replace the social part of going down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of men and women the rules have left a number of bingo enthusiasts with no alternative.