{"id":232,"date":"2008-10-14T21:21:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-15T01:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blogs\/dmckee\/index.cfm\/2008\/10\/14\/Up-in-smoke"},"modified":"2010-10-21T13:26:33","modified_gmt":"2010-10-21T21:26:33","slug":"up-in-smoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/up-in-smoke\/","title":{"rendered":"Up in smoke"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few issues involving the casino industry cause such a conflict between intellect and emotion as that of second-hand smoke<\/strong>. Personally, I think even manure is less offensive to the nostrils than cigarette smoke — and it has fewer carcinogenic side effects. Exposing one’s employees to a steady barrage of tobacco and nicotine means shooting dice with their health. And if your employees aren’t aware of the risk they’re running, you’d better bring them up to speed.<\/p>\n

But … banning smoking on casino floors is practically a suicide vow for a casino. We don’t know just how bad the effect of Illinois<\/strong>‘ smoking ban has been on the state’s casinos, as it’s been coupled with the crash dive of the U.S. economy. However, gambling revenues were down 26%<\/strong> in the Land of Lincoln last month, far more than in any neighboring state.<\/p>\n

Atlantic City<\/strong> seemed to have arrived at an acceptable compromise: Ban smoking on all but 1\/4 of the casino floor and provide enclosed lounges (in which employees would not have to set foot) for those players who absolutely, positively have<\/em> to light up. Unfortunately, with the notable — and laudable — exception of Harrah’s Entertainment<\/strong> — compliance was virtually nil, with Colony “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” Capital<\/strong> being the worst offender. The city council became so miffed it decided to escalate to a 100% ban.<\/p>\n

Then the bottom fell out. Caught in the pincers of a recession and swooning casino revenues (plus the threat of mass layoffs), the city fathers decided to lift their ban. However, they waited so long to come to a decision that it can’t be ratified until Oct. 22. The real-world consequence is that, starting Oct. 15, there will be an odd, one-week interregnum<\/strong> [Correction<\/em>: 12-day<\/a>] in which Atlantic City casinos will be smoke-free. It will also provide a seven-day laboratory in which to find out what happens to traffic when a destination casino nixes smoking. Too bad the New Jersey Casino Control Commission<\/strong> doesn’t measure gambling win in one-week increments or else we might have some mighty interesting concrete data. Will the smokers really stay home or is it all a lot of huffing and puffing (more huff than puff, perhaps)?<\/p>\n

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All of which is a rather windy way of saying that these events make an inauspicious backdrop for an Oct. 15 media event announcing the formation of Gamblers Against Secondhand Smoke<\/strong> (that’s right, GASS). Player and second-hand-smoke victim Tom McEvoy<\/strong> is co-chair of the campaign, which kicks off at the American Lung Association<\/strong>‘s North Las Vegas HQ (3553 W. Cheyenne Ave., Suite 140, at 1 p.m., if you’re interested).<\/p>\n

The other speaker, Stephanie Steinberg<\/strong>, is an activist who helped push the Illinois and Colorado<\/strong> smoking bans across the finish line. So I doubt she’ll find herself mobbed by thankful casino execs. Local 721<\/strong> of the Transport Workers Union<\/strong> appears to be the moving force behind this.<\/p>\n

However, if there’s one issue where the Vegas casinos are likely to fight until the last dog is hung, it’s smoking. After all, a smoking ban in Nevada translates into a steady stream of cars heading for the nearest tribal casino. (It’s already decimated the revenues of some slot routes.)<\/p>\n

At least some of the casinos here are trying to minimize the noxious effects of smoke. But others’ gestures are so ludicrous — like the “smoke-free” aisles criss-crossing the Palazzo<\/strong>‘s casino floor — that there’s no question that room for improvement remains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few issues involving the casino industry cause such a conflict between intellect and emotion as that of second-hand smoke. Personally, I think even manure is less offensive to the nostrils than cigarette smoke — and it has fewer carcinogenic side … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,27,117,7,58,25,12,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4917,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions\/4917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}