Much has been reported in the press recently concerning the bingo industry struggling as a result of the cigarette ban in Britain. Conditions have grown so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has called for huge aid to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. However does the internet adaptation of this traditional game provide a lifeline, or might it never compare to its bricks and mortar peer?

Bingo has been an age old game generally played by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game lately had seen a recent resurgence in acceptance with younger men and women opting to visit the bingo parlors instead of the discos on a Saturday night. This is all about to be destroyed with the introduction of the smoking ban across Britain.

Players will no longer be allowed to smoke while dabbing numbers. From the summer of 2007 all public locations will not be permitted to allow cigarettes in their buildings and this includes Bingo parlours, one of the most favored locations where folks like to puff on cigarettes.

The results of the anti cigarette law can already be felt in Scotland where cigarettes are already forbidden in the bingo halls. Players have dropped and the industry is literally struggling for to stay alive. But where did all the players go? Surely they have not cast aside this enduring game?

The answer is on the net. Players realize that they can enjoy bingo from their computer at the same time enjoying a cocktail and cig and in the end, enjoy monstrous prizes. This is a recent development and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the ban on cigarettes.

Of course betting on on the net can never replace the collective part of heading down to the bingo parlor, but for a group of men and women the governing edicts have left a good many bingo enthusiasts with little choice.