A lot has been stated in the papers not long ago concerning the bingo industry being hit because of the cigarette ban in the UK. Things have become so poor that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive aid to assist in keeping the industry alive. However does the web version of this quintessential game offer a reprieve, or will it never compare to its bricks and mortar relative?

Bingo has been an familiar game normally enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. For all that the game lately had undergone a recent increase in popularity with younger people deciding to go to the bingo parlours in place of the discos on a Friday night. This is all about to change with the enacting of the anti smoking law across England and Wales.

Players will no longer be allowed to puff on cigarettes whilst marking numbers. Beginning in the summer of ‘07 all public locations will not be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlors, one of the most favored areas where many people like to smoke.

The outcome of the anti cigarette law can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already barred in the bingo parlors. Players have dropped and the business is literally fighting for its life. But where have all the players gone? Of course they have not given up on this classic game?

The answer is on the net. People are now realizing that they can wager on bingo using their computer while enjoying a cocktail and cigarette and still enjoy big prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.

Of course betting on on the web is unlikely to replace the social part of going down to the bingo parlour, but for a demographic of players the law has left a lot of bingo enthusiasts with little choice.