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Much has been talked in the papers not long ago about the bingo industry being hurt as a result of the anti smoking law in the United Kingdom. Conditions have become so bad that in Scotland the Bingo industry has demanded huge tax breaks to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. However will the net variation of this classic game offer a reprieve, or will it never compare to its land based relative?

Bingo is an enduring game generally played by the "blue haired" generation. However the game lately had undergone a recent comeback in popularity with younger men and women opting to visit the bingo parlours in place of the discos on a Saturday night. All this is about to change with the legislating of the smoking ban all over United Kingdom.

Players will no longer be permitted to smoke while marking numbers. From the summer of 2007 every public area will no longer be allowed to permit smoking in their buildings and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common areas where folks enjoy smoking.

The outcome of the cigarette ban can already be observed in Scotland where cigarettes are already illegal in the bingo parlors. Profits have plunged and the industry is beyond a doubt fighting for to stay alive. But where did the players go? Obviously they haven't deserted this classic game?

The answer is on the net. Players know that they can bet on bingo in front of their computer whilst enjoying a beverage and fag and in the end, enjoy big cash rewards. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the ban on smoking.

Of course playing on the net is unlikely to replace the social portion of going over to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left a number of bingo players with little choice.