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Smoke-free casino tops tourist destination study 

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - When it comes to developing a new tourist destination on the Mississippi Gulf Coast most respondents in a recent study say they would prefer a smoke-free casino.

The study was commissioned by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau. However, officials warn the study will probably not give a boost to any smoking ban proposal.

That's because casinos in Atlantic City, Colorado and Illinois say they have lost millions of dollars due to smoking bans. Atlantic City's casinos tried it for one month, but with the sluggish economy, city officials repealed the ban.

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In Atlantic City, No Longer Is All That Glitters Golden  

As go the casinos, so go the city’s fortunes. A smoking ban imposed by the City Council illustrates the symbiotic relationship.

The Council passed a ban that would have extended the existing prohibition on smoking from 75 percent to 100 percent of the casino floors, allowing smoking only in sealed-off lounges where gambling was not permitted. But after the casino industry — and some of the very employees the ban was meant to protect — loudly complained that the ban would make them lose business, the Council voted to postpone a total ban at least for a year.

“This is not the time to play around with those kind of dynamics,” said Robert McDevitt, president of Unite-Here Local 54, which represents hotel, food and beverage workers, some of whom feared a ban would cost jobs.

During the debate on the ban, some workers wore orange T-shirts that read, “I don’t want to work in an ashtray”; others wore red T-shirts that read, “I don’t want to work in an ashtray, but I want to work.”

The casino industry is being hit by what many are calling the perfect storm: a national recession just as competition from slot parlors in Pennsylvania and New York has heightened.

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Smokers, fight back by avoiding the lottery 

Please, don't punish the bars financially. Instead of playing the machines (from which the bar gets a portion of the revenue), spend your money on a meal from the bar . . .

For those of you who favor the social engineering of this ban, I will cede you this: you've probably won. If fact, you've certainly won the culture war against smoking in general. And my idea is a long shot. But let's try it. After all, the proverbial oil afforded to we squeaky wheels could literally keep us from being left out in the cold!

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New Oregon Law Bars Smoking In Bars 

Linda Lou of Salem is savoring one of her last legal cigarettes at Noble's. She thinks lawmakers went too far.

Linda Lou: "I don't understand why they have to tell us 'Can't smoke in a bar.' I mean, in a bar! Pretty soon it's, can't smoke in our house."

Noble's and many of the close to 3000 Oregon bars affected by the ban are hoping to keep smokers coming back.

They're installing outdoor, heated patios. That's legal as long as no one smokes within ten feet of the door.

What won't be coming outside are video poker machines, which are a familiar sight in many Oregon bars. That's why critics of the new law expect gaming revenues to fall as a result of the smoking ban.

State economists do predict a drop, but Josh Harwood of the Office of Economic Analysis says lottery revenues are already taking a hit even without the ban.

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Smoke-free casino favored in Mississippi 

-- When it comes to developing a new tourist destination on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, most respondents in a recent study said they would prefer a smoke-free casino.

The study was commissioned by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau. But officials said the study probably will not boost any smoking-ban proposal.

That is because casinos in Atlantic City, Colorado and Illinois have said they have lost millions of dollars because of smoking bans.

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• At This Casino, Only the Slots Light Up 

A Nevada casino without smoke might seem like the Strip without neon. But in this town off Interstate 80 a half-hour's drive east of Reno, a new casino invites gamblers to breathe deeply, and not just to soothe nerves before a bet.

The Fernley Nugget, one of only two Nevada casinos that prohibit smoking, and the first built with the ban in mind, may be at the vanguard of what smoking's opponents hope will be its eventual elimination in casinos, among the few public indoor places where many states still allow it.

"Everybody says smoking and gambling go together, and when you gamble, you do smoke more," said Jane Magazu, 56, a former smoker playing a video slot machine at the Nugget. "But now I can go home and I don't have to take a shower to get the smoke smell off of me. Smoke really bothers me."

Advocates for smoke-free casinos are paying close attention to what happens in Fernley. But Scott Tate, general manager of the Nugget, which with only 10,000 square feet, 174 slots and 2 poker tables is dwarfed by the cavernous palaces of Reno and Las Vegas, makes clear that the ban here is all about business, not necessarily public health.

Marketing research, he says, simply suggested an opening for smoke-free gambling.

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Singapore Smoking Ban Talks Drag On For LVS, Genting ($$) 

The operators of Singapore’s two upcoming casinos, Las Vegas Sands and Genting, are continuing to hold talks with government officials about how severely smoking will be restricted in their gaming halls.

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LETTER: Smoking ban is unfair 

Iowa doesn't care that nonsmoking workers or people who go on the casino gaming floors are forced to smell it and ruin their lungs. Small businesses deserve equal rights. End discrimination! Let people have a choice to enter any business they choose. Smoking or not.

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Casinos get burned by smoking ban this year 

While casino workers can now breathe smoke-free air at work, the year-old indoor smoking ban in Illinois has been measurably tough on the state’s riverboats.

That means attempts to allow gamblers smoke at the slots and gambling tables probably won’t die with 2008.

All year, monthly reports from the Illinois Gaming Board showed a sharp decline in the amount the state’s gamblers were putting on the line at casinos. So far this year, the state’s boats have seen about a 20 percent drop.

Surely, some of that decline can be seen because of the country’s economic recession.

But gambling hasn’t fallen as sharply in casinos in states that border Illinois.

“The only other thing is smoking,” said Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association.

Early this year, the casino industry and some lawmakers pushed to have Illinois riverboats exempted from the indoor smoking ban. Those efforts failed, but they are not unprecedented.

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Slots and cigs: Is there a connection?  

Do gamblers smoke more than other people?

As with so many questions, the answer is that experts disagree. But there is evidence that the people who gamble the most also smoke the most.

First the facts. Because of the state's Clean Indoor Air Act, the PhiladelphiaPark began allotting 75 percent of its slots machines to nonsmokers in September. Given that only about 20 percent of the nation's adults smoke, that would seem a reasonable ratio.

The state then looked at 90 days' worth of revenue at the Bensalem casino, where 25 percent of machines were in smoking areas. It found the average revenue from slot machines per day was 21/2 times more in smoking vs. nonsmoking areas.

As a result, the state is now letting Philadelphia Park reserve half its machines for smokers, which is expected to mean more tax revenue for state coffers, as well as the casino itself. . . .

Researchers are less sure of a correlation. Chris Pritsos, a biochemist who teaches at the University of Nevada, Reno, studied smoking rates at casinos throughout Nevada two years ago and found that the percentage of smokers at casinos in Las Vegas and Reno was not significantly higher than the national average. The smoking rate at Lake Tahoe resorts was actually lower. The proportion of slots players who smoked was 21.3 percent.

"I think that the notion that gamblers are more likely to smoke is absolutely unfounded," said Pritsos, who also studies the effect of smoking on casino employees.

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LETTER: Smoking ban: Casino discrimination  

Smoking in local casinos is something that I find very disturbing. It is a documented fact that second-hand smoke is harmful and that smoking itself is an extremely hazardous health risk.

It is gratifying to see that Valley View Casino in the San Diego cares enough about non-smokers to have added an addition complete with all the slots and games, bar and cashier to accommodate those people who are discriminated against in local casinos.

It would be gratifying if the local Indian tribes who do contribute their money to the local economy would also consider the safety and health of the patrons who are not smokers. Smokers are infringing on the civil rights of those who do not and California for the most part is a non-smoking state, so why are casinos exempt?

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Casino smoking rules vary -- a lot  

Here’s one for the irony record books.

Workers at Ameristar Kansas City Casino and Hotel who are smokers must step outside for a puff. When their break is over many must return to duty on the gaming floor where gamblers are permitted to light up, but they can’t, of course, while they’re on the job.

“We used to have a smoking area inside for our team members, but they can’t anymore because the city ordinance prohibits that,” said Ameristar spokeswoman Roxann M. Kinkade.

Kansas City’s nearly year-old smoking ordinance exempts casino floors from its near blanket ban on smoking in public places, but otherwise requires a “smoke-free workplace for all employees.”

That rule chases employee-smokers outside where some have started to complain the casino has done nothing to ease their exposure to harsh winter weather.

The law is pretty much the same at Harrah's North Kansas City Casino and Hotel. But puffing policies there work a little differently under the casino’s interpretation of North Kansas City’s nearly identical no-smoking law.

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Casino Owners Say Limiting Smoking Sections Is Hurting Business 

The owners of Pennsylvania's casinos say limiting smoking is hurting business, so they're appealing to state officials to expand the size of their smoking sections.

Before September 11th, smokers like Erika Johnson, could light up wherever they wanted while trying their luck at places like the Meadows Race Track and Casino.

But that all changed when the Clean Indoor Air Act went into effect - limiting smokers to 25-percent of the gaming floor.

"I like coming and being entertained and of course enjoy smoking as well," said Johnson.

According to the Act, after 90 days the casino can request a report from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue showing the Gross Terminal Revenue difference between smoking and non smoking sections.

The Meadows Casino already has that data and has already filed for expansion.

"We submitted an exemption yesterday as our smoking games showed double the revenue than our non-smoking games," said Meadows Race Track and Casino Director of Marketing Jamie John.

If approved, smoking space at the Meadows could increase up to 50%.

But the news isn't sitting well with the American Cancer Society.

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Gaming commission discusses smoke free casinos 

The state House Gaming committee came to the Coast Wednesday. This was a public meeting that gave anyone interested a chance to speak to the committee.

An estimated 50 people were on hand, and that group included casino representatives, businessmen, and just people curious to hear what the commission had to say.

The issue that garnered the most attention was a proposal to ban smoking in all casinos regulated by the state.

State representative John Mayo is a long time representative from North Mississippi. Mayo plans to introduce a bill that would ban smoking in all casinos.

Even he admits, it has a slim chance of passing.

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Talks continue on Michigan smoking ban  

Negotiations between the state House and Senate continued this morning for an agreement to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places.

A conference committee was still mired in disagreements over whether to allow exemptions to a ban for Detroit's casinos, or for establishments that pay a state fee to allow their patrons to smoke.

Committee chairwoman Rep. Brenda Clack, D-Flint, called a recess while private talks continued. Clack said "honest" negotiations continue, and hinted the committee's effort may spill into Thursday, when the Legislature meets to wrap up its business for its 2007-08 session.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, said he was involved in discussions for a compromise late Tuesday night.

Conference committee member Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, said he still insists on a statewide smoking ban with no exemptions. He challenged House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, to allow a full House vote on a total ban, which failed earlier this year.

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