Lainie, I did not read the UNLV study, so I can't say whether they
took into account those who would come because of a smoking ban. But,
if they did not take it into account, it would not be a study. It
would be propaganda. I was merely trying to point out the uphill
battle non smokers face in getting cigarettes out of the casinos. The
largest industry in the state, gaming, controls the politics in the
state. And they won't bend on the issue.
As a long time poker player in the state, I was there for the war
between smokers and non-smokers in the card barns. It really is quite
a story how the non-smokers won the war. When I get the time I'll
post the story here. I know many of the characters involved. The
smoking ban surely did not hurt the poker business, but the boom was
caused by a massive influx of very young players who caught the bug
watching TV poker. Teenagers cannot go into a casino and watch a
poker game, but they can watch it on TV. As long as TV poker is
popular (it's one of the most popular things to watch for teenagers)
every year a huge new crop of players (when they turn 21) will arrive
on the scene. I'm making so much money playing poker these days that
I have very little time for Video Poker. It's not so much my great
play as it is all the bad play by these youngsters. God bless
America.