They are waiting for the intermission or the chance to sneak away for a few minutes to have a few puffs on a cigarette. This means that instead of spending their non-playing time buying refreshments and other things, they are spending their non-playing time out-of-doors smoking. This contributes to lower revenues for the internet bingo hall. Players who are confronted with a smoking ban usually chose to avoid the bingo hall where they can’t smoke. Many shift their bingo playing to the best online casino environment where they can play in their own homes where the smoking issue is avoided. The player can be comfortable when she plays bingo in this way since online play is viewed as a substitute for land-based play. Smoking bans in bingo halls are known to result in lower attendance figures and revenues for the bingo halls because of the switch to online play.

Bingo players are gamblers and most gamblers tend to be smokers. This seems to be a part of the personality of many bingo game players. Smoking is a part of the game for them. They play and socialize and spend the intermission time being able to have a cigarette whenever they want to. This creates the issue of second hand smoke and the rights of non-smokers. The problems occur when players can’t have cigarettes whenever they want to. Many bingo players respond to a smoking ban by not attending the land-based bingo halls. They would rather not play at all than play in a non-smoking environment. For many the non-smoking environment wrecks the game for them.