with regard to pay tables, i'm here to tell you that some casinos i visit in
atlantic city do indeed only have "full pay" machines in smoking sections;
whether that's by chance or by some master plan, i couldn't tell you.
but a VP player who wants to play only full pay machines in those casinos must
play in the smoking section. so those casinos - with regard to pay tables, at
least - are not offering the same experience to their non-smoking patrons.
i'm participating in a long and spirited discussion over on the atlantic city
trip advisor forum on this very topic:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g29750-i78-k3104090-Smoking_Ban_in_October-\
Atlantic_City_New_Jersey.html
the general consensus among non-smokers is that smoking sections in casinos
don't work because they are not separate and distinct and ventilation systems
are poorly designed.
in this thread, we also discuss the incivility of some smokers and non-smokers
alike, as well as the financial health of the casinos. i won't repeat everything
that has been said over there, but i will repeat some of my own comments from
that thread because they touch on some points that have been raised here:
the belief that an economic hardship will befall casinos because an untold army
of smoking gamblers will leave and shatter their business... this belief that
smokers somehow constitute the majority of gamblers... that is a supposition,
not a fact. in other words, it's an opinion. and it doesn't seem to be borne out
by the facts.
it only appears that there are more smokers in casinos than non-smokers because
smoke is pervasive - there's no way to escape it. there's at least one study i
know of that found that the percentage of casino gamblers who smoke (in Nevada
casinos) very closely resembles the percentage of smokers in the population at
large... in other words, the majority of casino customers do not smoke.
so its entirely possible that casinos might actually attract more business by
going smoke-free. the New Jersey Casino Control Commission numbers from last
year would seem to support that, as do other studies of smoke-free casinos
(delaware and elsewhere) and workplaces that show no effect or an uptick in
revenue following a smoking ban....
...the limited actual data we have from the NJ CCC - from the brief time the
smoking ban went into effect last year - shows that monthly casino revenue
dropped LESS during the time smoking was banned than it did when smoking was
allowed. in other words, the casinos continued to lose money during the smoking
ban, but they lost LESS money than they did when smoking was permitted...
...they banned smoking in the majority of bars and restaurants in new york city
a few years ago and most of the restaurateurs and all their industry
organizations predicted a major fall-off in business... just like they're
predicting in atlantic city. and it didn't happen... business went up.
for whatever reason, people continued to want to eat out and socialize at bars
and restaurants. the smokers apparently found the experience of dining out worth
putting up with the inconvenience of stepping outside to smoke... and, for the
most part, they chose to continue to patronize the bars and restaurants.
this is the same reason many non-smokers continue to play in smoking areas in
casinos if they must (perhaps they want to play with their spouse; perhaps the
"best" machines are located there). they clearly value that experience.
but smokers highly value the experience, too. my personal opinion is that
smokers will continue to play where they've always enjoyed playing, regardless
of a ban. if they feel well taken care of at a certain casino, if they feel
"lucky," if they're happy with the rewards program, they will play there.
my experience has been that what people say they will do ("if they ban smoking,
i'm never setting foot in an AC casino ever again!") and what they actually wind
up doing are often entirely different.
and all the studies that i've seen that say that business would go down the
tubes if smoking is banned have two problems. they are all prepared by groups
with ties to the tobacco industry... and they make a crucial error: they simply
assume that smokers would make less visits. it's not based on any empirical
data, it's just a hunch.
but, curiously, they don't assume in those studies that non-smokers would go
more.
All I ever see is complaints about smoking and I KNOW I am not the only smoker
here. It may come as a suprise, but we aren't the evil demons that so many of
you make us out to be. So, a rebuttal (and a bit of a rant) from the minority:
"Less than 20 percent of the population smokes, but walk into any Vegas
casino, and you'd swear they run the place."I believe the percentage of gamblers who smoke may be quite a bit higher than
the percentage of the general population who does...
ยทยทยท
To: vpFREE@Yahoogroups.com
From: "ukstages" <takeme2london@nyc.rr.com>
Date: Thu Oct 1, 2009 5:36 pm
Subject: Re: Smoking in casinos (was Best non-smoking)
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, Karlene Trudell <godess6042@...> wrote: