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An abundance has been written in the papers not long ago about the bingo industry struggling because of the smoking ban in Britain. Things have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive aid to help keep the industry from going bankrupt. But does the online version of this traditional game present a reprieve, or will it not compare to its bricks and mortar kin?

Bingo is an enduring game usually played by the "blue rinse" generation. Although the game of late had seen a recent increase in popularity with younger men and women opting to visit the bingo parlours instead of the clubs on a Saturday night. This is all about to be reversed with the enacting of the anti smoking law across England and Wales.

Players will no longer be permitted to smoke at the same time marking off their numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 every public place will no longer be allowed to permit cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, which are possibly the most favored areas where people enjoy smoking.

The outcome of the smoking ban can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already forbidden in the bingo parlours. Numbers have dropped and the industry is beyond a doubt struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Certainly they have not given up on this classic game?

The answer is online. People are now realizing that they can wager on bingo using their computer whilst enjoying a cocktail and cigarette and still have a chance at monstrous prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself almost perfectly with the ban on cigarettes.

Of course playing on the internet is unlikely to replace the communal part of going down to the bingo parlour, but for a group of players the law has left many bingo players with no option.