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Northern Irish Bingo Players Adjust to Smoke-Free Halls

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – As reported by the Bangor News: ``The smoke may be gone from the bingo halls of Belfast, but there's still plenty of fire in the eyes of the players.

``On Sept. 13 a new law went into effect prohibiting smoking at all bingo parlors in Maine. With the only exemption being seven super bingo games at Indian Island, bingo players across the state have been forced to snuff out their smoking materials.

``…With bingo halls liable for fines of up to $100 for each violation, the smoking ban is total - no ifs, ands or butts about it.

``To say that smokers are angry about it is an understatement. To say they will quit playing bingo, forget about it.

``Gamblers apparently love gambling more than they do smoking. While some have suggested boycotting the bingo halls, others are resigned to their fate. They don't like losing the freedom to smoke, but when it comes to a choice of smoking or giving up the game that many play seven days a week, most choose bingo.

```I don't like it, I think it's wrong,' Gerald 'Buttons' Hews, a Belfast bingo worker, said Saturday. 'Ninety percent of the bingo players are smokers and they took their rights away. People are going to catch cold this winter having to go outside to smoke.'…"

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