Scottish bingo operator Carlton Clubs is getting ready to open its new £6 million (~$10.8 million) bingo hall tomorrow in the Kingdom of Fife, Scotland. Less than two months after the Fife site is scheduled to debut, another £6 bingo hall is slated to open its doors in Inverness, also in Scotland. These two bingo clubs join Carton's 19 existing halls, located in Scotland and Northeast England. The Fife bingo hall purports to be a high-class, state-of-the-art facility, with reportedly enough seating capacity to host 2,000 players.

The impending smoking ban, however, will likely put a damper on the excitement, not to mention the profits, resulting from Carlton's new, cutting-edge bingo clubs. Last year, the Scottish Parliament voted to ban smoking in indoor public places, including bingo halls, effective spring 2006. With approximately two thirds of Carlton's bingo players being smokers, according to research conducted by the company, the ban will quite possibly impact future earnings.

Besides the potential negative impact on club membership and attendance, Carlton will lose out on funds invested in new smoke ventilation systems, which will soon be rendered obsolete. Before the smoking ban was announced in late 2004, Carlton had already committed to an investment totaling over half a million pounds for the new halls.