Why Do the Casinos Continue To Kill People with Smoke?

We just don't get it. Why do most casino owners continue to kill all their employees with second-hand smoke, never mind the millions of nonsmoking customers? Vegas would attract many new customers without smoke. The question is, do any casino owners have the balls to make this change? If not, the workers, all workers — union and management — should go on strike to extend their lives and force everyone to help save lives and kill smoking forever. We visit Foxwoods and Mohegan weekly and they're smoke-free. They're as busy as they've ever been.

[Editor's Note: Regular readers of QoD don't need to be informed who this answer's author is. You'll recognize the wit, wisdom, and diction of our very own David McKee.)

We’re not in a position to check out the testicular amplitude of casino owners and executives. As you indicate, the tribal sector is much more robustly endowed, with the majority of tribal casinos having gone smoke-free, including those two East Coast powerhouses, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, as well as Midwest behemoth Potawatomi Casino.

In Virginia, the Pamunkey Tribe was going to build a smoke-free casino in Norfolk, Virginia. However, the tribe couldn’t get their fiscal act together and ultimately sold most of its position to Boyd Gaming, which promptly backslid from the no-smoking vow.

Commercial (non-tribal) casinos outside of Nevada, if they’re smokeless, usually go that route by dint of state-level mandates. If you don’t comply with clean-air regulations in states like Illinois or Massachusetts, you can forget about opening or operating a casino. Ditto all those casino moguls jostling for the right to drop billions to have their casino bids accepted in New York City.

Which is not to say that the politicians always do the right thing by us.

Both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey legislatures have shown extraordinary cowardice when confronting the smoking-in-casinos issue, their mousiness attributable to the gaming-industry’s lobbying efforts. New Jersey is a particular profile in pusillanimity. Although no casino has ever gone out of business for banning smoking, lawmakers have fallen victim to industry hysteria on that point.

(We digress to note that Silver City in Las Vegas had many issues other than its non-smoking policy; Park MGM is doing just fine. On the other side of the ledger, one extinct casino was particularly notorious for its tobacco-clouded air: defunct and demolished Nevada Palace. The epitaph for this unmourned casino wa,s “Not only can I cut the smoke in here with a knife, I can butter it, too.”)

New Jersey solons regularly parrot casino talking points, to the extent that a ban on smoking in gambling halls hasn’t budged in Trenton, despite a large number of sponsors and the (half-baked) support of Gov. Phil Murphy.

Lawmakers have been stalling for years (smoking is banned in all other public areas in the state) and some have advanced a "compromise" whereby casino smoking would be enshrined in perpetuity: Big Tobacco-sponsored "smoking rooms" would be created on casino floors and employees would “volunteer” to sacrifice their health by working in these hellish chambers.

Occasionally a private-sector owner bucks the trend. Greenwood Racing, owner of Parx Casino outside Philadelphia, has banned smoking and easily and routinely leads the Keystone State in revenue. Four other smoking-enabled Philadelphia-area casinos lag far behind Parx. But its courage is the rare exception, not the rule. Mount Airy Resort, also in Pennsylvania, briefly went the no-smoking rule before cravenly retreating.

Said Parx Chief Marketing Officer Marc Oppenheimer, “Entering our fifth year of operation as a fully non-smoking casino in a market that still allows smoking, we're very happy with our decision. We've seen a great increase in employee morale, as well as an improvement in our customer-satisfaction scores, with 'too smoky’ disappearing from our top complaints.”

Tomorrow: To Be Continued

No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.

Have a question that hasn't been answered? Email us with your suggestion.

Missed a Question of the Day?

Have a Question?

Tomorrow's Question

Has Clark County ever considered legalizing prostitution?

Comments

MaxFlavor Nov-12-2024

Smoke Free is Best

One of the reasons I don't visit Las Vegas as much as I used to is the smoking in casinos. My local casinos are all smoke-free, state law, and are much more enjoyable to gamble at than Vegas where I find myself being forced to move to a different game when the smoking gets to be too much.

Vegas Fan Nov-12-2024

Parx

I either had forgotten, or never knew they were smoke free. I think it may have started during the pandemic. I remember their mantra was safety. Maybe time for me to return.

Dave Nov-12-2024

EX DEALER TAKE

I worked at Barona for about three years, ending in 2015 or so. In just three years, I still have wheezing from my time there inhaling everybodies smoke. Doctor visits are fine, lungs are clean but I have been told I am just really sensitive now to anything in the air because of my exposure. Sometimes people would blow smoke in my face on purpose if they were losing. I consider smokers the most inconsiderate lot of individuals, so sorry if you happen to be one (although I am sure some of them are a bit more thoughtful and don't use the "It is a casino, what do you expect" excuse.

Cal Nov-12-2024

Smoking

Smoking kills. So do guns. Yet both are legal.

Kevin Lewis Nov-12-2024

Weakness and stupidity

The casino industry thrives on people's failings. So why would it act to stifle any expression of those flaws?

Randall Ward Nov-12-2024

smoking

Vegas is so much better than before I don't really notice smokers. 30 years ago I would be only nonsmoker at a table.

Marty McCann Nov-12-2024

Scan first

I visit locals casinos in Vegas and Henderson regularly. My move before I sit at a bank of VP machines or card game is scan for cigarette packs or loaded ashtrays. Not perfect but better than having some inconsiderate a hole blowing smoke on me,

Joseph Merritt Nov-12-2024

Recreational Smokers Love Vegas

Visiting Vegas from a state ruled by smoke-nazi’s is so refreshing.  Just the sight of ashtrays and matchbooks lets you know your in one of they few remaining areas where adults can act like adults.  

There are plenty of folks who have the ability to smoke recreationally or just when on vacation.  The bar and casino operators understand that and want to keep our business.

For yours and our sake please, please don’t become California!

O2bnVegas Nov-12-2024

Timing

Smoking was so commonplace decades ago; few if any health warnings.  Cigs were freely handed out to soldiers, thought to help relieve the stress of their duties.  Smoking was in most offices and break rooms of most businesses.  Some if not most allowed it in their homes, wouldn't think of asking guests not to smoke.

Times have changed.  Health warnings/knowledge; smoking cessation aids are available; people DO ask guests not to smoke.  It is very much THE time for casino managers to 'pull the handle' on non-smoking.  In Biloxi Hard Rock Casino smoking is no longer allowed at tables.

Candy

jay Nov-12-2024

All or none

The simple answer is that no casino is going to P*ss off their customers.
It needs to be an all or nothing ban so no one gains a competitive advantage.
Right now Park MGM has a competitive advantage for the stoic non-smoker.

I think this needs to be state mandated. I still think you could argue a dealer who has a specific skill could argue that if he “refused to work” in a smoke filled environment that he would be excluded from Nevada employment and as such be subject to discrimination.

Federal Safety law states that any employee can “refuse unsafe” work. The problem is that the casinos have very deep pockets and would draw a law suit out for years ($$$) trying to break the individual financially. The only resolution would be to make this class action. Unless your Erin Brockovich no Nevada based law firm is going to pick this up as the casinos would put them out of work quickly too.

Raymond Nov-12-2024

Hey Cal

Being alive winds up killing people, yet it is legal.  I guarantee that if you're alive, you're going to wind up dead.

Kevin Lewis--Good point.  I'm a gambler, it's one of my flaws.  But I manage it (nothing online, no sports betting, no low-percentage stuff).

My personal view is that I'd prefer no-smoking, as I've never been a smoker, but if a non-smoking casino is otherwise uninviting, like the one nearest to my (non-Vegas) home, I'll go over the state line and play in the smoky environment.  I guess it helps that I have little sense of smell.

Ben Rosenthal Nov-12-2024

Smoking

It's one of the things I hate the most about gambling as much as I do in casinos. On one hand, tough shit for me. On the other, like people have said, the employees have to deal with this as well, and tough shit for people who like to smoke while gambling at their expense. I'd think as fewer and fewer younger folks are smoking cigarettes, it'll eventually be one of those things like smoking in planes...a "how was that ever allowed?" type of thing.

Hoppy Nov-12-2024

Why the smoker Gauntlet?

I was just thinking about this very issue, this afternoon, while at the casino in Indiana near Cincinnati. To get to the main casino area, one must walk through what can only be described as a cigarette smoke gauntlet (long past attitude that gaming is a gateway to.....). The casino in Cincinnati, as I have noted here a few times,  has just as much activity. Put smoking off in it's own area.

Carey Rohrig Nov-12-2024

Smoking

Smoking in public has to be banned by the legislature, unfortunately in Nevada the casinos call the shots

Question of the Day - 12 November 2024

Comments