The following is taken from the revised edition of Casino Secrets by Barney Vinson. Before retiring from the casino business a few years ago, Barney had been a dice dealer, a gaming instructor, and a pit boss for more than 35 years in Las Vegas. Here's what he says about comped cigarettes:
"Before Howard Hughes bought his first Las Vegas casino and started a stampede by other corporate conglomerates, cigarettes were free. Boxes of them sat on every table game in the casino and you could grab as many as you wanted. After the corporations took over, the cigarettes were kept in locked drawers. If a player wanted some smokes, he had to ask for them and the pit boss decided if his play warranted a free pack.
"Now, it's even worse. Cigarettes are supplied by concessionaires, who pay the casino for this privilege. If a player wants a pack of cigarettes today, he tells the dealer, who tells the supervisor, who tells the pit clerk, who calls the cigarette girl, who gets an order form signed by the supervisor. By the time a customer gets his cigarettes, he's practically kicked the habit."
So yes, casinos still give out free cigarettes. But they don't make it easy.
By the way, Casino Secrets will be published in spring 2005.
