Will all casinos ban smoking in the not-too-distant future? Perhaps. At the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas last month, a group of dealers picketed outside in favor of a smoking ban. Inside the Expo, indoor smoking cabins were on display and at the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation booth, casino representatives could learn how make their gaming floors smoke-free.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nationwide 85 percent of adults do not smoke. The CDC also reported 63 percent of adults never smoked, and 22 percent quit smoking.
Most poker rooms typically are smoke-free, and so are numerous Las Vegas sports books, including the world’s largest, Westgate. Smoke-free casinos also are more likely to attract younger gamblers who grew up knowing smoking causes health risks.
John Stewart, president and chief executive officer at Encompass Develop, Design & Construct in La Grange, Kentucky, said, “I think eventually all casinos will be smoke-free. The whole casino world continues to evolve, and this is one piece of that.” Stewart’s company designed and built a unique $2 million smoking pavilion at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort in Chester, West Virginia. It opened in July 2015 on the day a countywide smoking ordinance took effect. Encompass has completed similar projects across the country.
Stewart said casinos should not consider air cleaners as a solution. ASHRAE, a trade group of ventilation engineers, says no technology can clean smoky air, he pointed out. “There’s a lot of different technologies that are out there, but there’s nothing better than fresh air,” Stewart said.
Casino exemptions from state, county or city smoking bans widely vary. The Hancock County smoking ban does not exempt Mountaineer Casino.
Nevada and Pennsylvania do allow smoking on the casino floor. But smoking is forbidden in 20 other states, including Ohio, Illinois and Maryland, where MGM’s $1.4 billion National Harbor Casino will open December 8.
The smoking ban may or may not have contributed to a decrease in third-quarter gross gaming revenue at Mountaineer, which fell from $34.9 million in 2015 to $32 million.
