New Report Suggests Smoking Bans No Longer a Threat to Casino Revenue

they also have no real local competition, which makes it easier

 

gamblers will still gamble at a non-smoking casino
because gambling is a much stronger addiction than smoking

i'd dare say gambling addiction may be the strongest addiction out there

 

I disagree with your entire premise. Not everything is driven by addiction. And trying to rank addictions is an absurd proposition.

 

Vegas is one of the few places remaining where a person can gamble and smoke so some may opt to gamble locally vs spending money to travel to Vegas if smoking is no longer an option.

 

I agree with your premise and I think Vegas will be one of the later ones to go away

Personally, I was a bit surprised that they didn't ban smoking at Cromwell when that reopened. Felt like a missed opportunity for Caesars at the time.

 

The drawback with this is casinos imo often do a HORRIBLE job of organizing a split smoking/non-smoking area. Often times the most popular slots and better paying VP are shoved into the smoking area. It's like the non- smoking section is an afterthought. That's definitely the way it is in Missouri where half the floor must be non-smoking. But when I visit, I'm always in the smoking section because that's where the games I want are. Also unless you enclose it with a door, you still get some remnants of smoke in the non-smoking area.

Unfortunately, unlike many other states, Nevada doesn't require individual casinos to report monthly revenue. But when we stayed there last trip, I was pleased with how "busy" it looked.

Still quite a few places in US where you can smoke in a casino. Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Minnesota, most of Louisiana, Ohio (in enclosed smoking sections), Michigan, some of Pennsylvania, New Jersey (for now), West Virginia.

I'm sure I'm missing some jurisdictions here.

Now if comp drinks stopped in Vegas, then I would be much more inclined to gamble locally.

 

A bunch of tribal ones can allow it, IIRC, including Florida

If you're in Cleveland, Philly, St. Louis, etc. the drinks are the differentiator, as you really only see free drinks in a few high end players clubs or in destination casinos (for the most part)

 

We call that "Horseshoe Hammond".

 

When I was in Vegas a few weeks ago, a lot of people still smoke in casinos. I did like ParkMGM being smoke free and did go there to play some because of it being smoke free. I could see a smaller property like Linq going smoke free to and doing well. I just don't think all of Vegas is ready for smoke free yet.

 

I like that Harrah's has a non-smoking V/P bar and the concept of Park MGM. I'm definitely on board with choice just wish we had some more well thought out non-smoking options.

 

I don't even notice the smoking in Vegas casinos anymore. Even when someone is smoking at the same table where I'm playing. I think they've got their air circulation/filtration game on point. Tribal casinos are another matter, though....

 

Linq would be a perfect CET counter to Park MGM imo.

 

Playing for awhile smoke free only to be invaded by a cigar smoker is impossible to miss. But I'm with you when it comes to cigarette smoke in most casinos.

 

In Lake Tahoe at lakeside inn for skiing we would have table games
With the dealer imploring a small fan to direct away from the table …..depending on the seat. Easy to accommodate and pleasing to all.
But it didn’t survive the pandemic so maybe not so good.

 

It really is in many ways one of the worst addictions you can have. It can take you down fast and leave you broke. Your financial well being can be destroyed with a quickness.
And the suicide rate...WOW.

 

Not only that, but ParkMGM also has a substantial non-gaming draw, which would make it hard to tell a ton from just the gaming numbers. Having Dolby Live on-property, and T-Mobile next door, are pretty big deals.

 

So which properties in Vegas do y'all seeing going 100% smoke free in the future? I think we all agree that Vegas won't be 100% smoke free (if ever at all), but I do think there's a good chance for more casinos to go smoke free. MGM obviously has ParkMGM but I wonder if there's room for another smoke-free MGM property in Vegas. I don't know enough about CET to say anything about them.

I do think it would be easier for companies with multiple casinos to go smoke-free because those who want to smoke while gambling could always go to other casinos within the family that still allow it, but standalone properties would have to make a harder choice.

 

Man, remember back in the day when restaurants had smoking and non-smoking sections, except all in the same big room with just a "no smoking" sign in the no-smoking section?

 

The Peppermill in Reno has six VP bars that are no smoking. There is the older no smoking section of the casino and also the area of the sports bar, the Sports Book and the large area of the casino next to it is also no smoking. That's about 1/3 of the casino floor. The sports book is huge and I really enjoy sitting in those big comfy seats with no smoke and watching the Giants games.

 

I do not smoke, never have been a regular smoker, but I sincerely try to not be a b*tch about it.

All (most?) of the local casinos here allow smoking, but none of them exceed my tolerance level.

Now, last Friday at Prairie Flower I noticed that it appeared that nobody was smoking, at least in the area I was in, and there were no obvious ashtrays. I did not check further that evening.

We do have some nonsmoking areas, but the rumor is that machines in the nonsmoking areas do not pay as well as those in the general areas where smoking is allowed and tolerated.

I found kind of the opposite on a semi-recent trip to Columbus. Last month I spent several nights at the hotel on the campus of Scioto Downs. They had apparently gone nonsmoking since my last visit, which was pre-Covid.

They did have to "open air patios" where smoking was allowed, and I checked them out to see if there were any machines I might enjoy. The smoke level was NASTY in those two areas, even though they were supposedly open air. Nope, no machines in those areas screamed "Play Me!" but there were many in the main casino which I liked.

It has changed dramatically since my first trip to Las Vegas in the 1970s. Back then I would estimate that 85-90% of the casino players smoked. I would guess at the time that among those I hung out with, it was about 50/50 smokers and nonsmokers. Still, very few times in LV have I been annoyed by the smoke.