More on Smoking Ban's Affect on Gaming/Bingos

Casinos in Illinois have posted double-digit revenue declines since a smoking ban took effect there in January. And it's not primarily because high air fares stop tourists from visiting the Windy City in search of a game of chance.

"The smoking ban is having a major impact," Tom Swoik, head of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, told The Wall Street Journal last week.

And In Atlantic City -- where casinos are now under a partial smoking ban that keeps gamblers from lighting up on 75 percent of the casino floor -- a full ban is scheduled to go into effect Oct. 15, at which point smokers are widely expected to flee to gambling halls in Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

But the places gamblers can go to escape the smoking bans are narrowing. Efforts to extend existing smoking bans are now expected in Iowa, Missouri and Nevada. Pennsylvania casinos instituted a closely watched partial smoking ban last week. And it turns out misery loves company: To create a level playing field, the Casino Association of New Jersey -- which unsuccessfully fought the Atlantic City ban -- is now arguing in favor of smoking bans in other states. In an e-mail statement, the association's president, Joseph Corbo Jr., writes: "We are hopeful that other nearby gaming jurisdictions, notably Pennsylvania and Connecticut, soon enact smoking bans."

Which should solve the problem, right? If gamblers no longer have any smoking-allowed alternatives, they'll simply have to shrug their shoulders and gamble without smoking, causing everything to even out in the end. Right?

Not necessarily.

For the complete story, please see EDITORIAL: Smoking bans and casinos Prohibition hurting many gaming establishments across the country , Las Vegas Review Journal, September 22, 2008.