ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.—When Atlantic City passed a law in April banning smoking on the gambling floor of all 11 casinos here, Liz String was relieved. The 26-year dealer at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City was counting the days until Oct. 15, when the law took effect.
But after less than two weeks of breathing clean air, String and other dealers could be back in the smoke as soon as Monday night.
“We finally have clean air, which is our right, and they’re taking it away from us,” String said. “I think we were betrayed.”
On Monday the City Council plans to postpone the smoking ban for at least a year due to the crumbling economy. If that happens, the casinos will revert to the previous arrangement under which smoking was restricted to no more than 25 percent of the casino floor.
If the council approves the law and Mayor Scott Evans signs it immediately afterward, gamblers could be lighting up by night’s end. However, Evans has refused to say if and when he’ll sign the postponement.
Janice Sigmund can’t wait to light up inside the casino again. The Hazleton, Pa. woman was puffing a cigarette Monday afternoon in the valet parking area of Trump Marina Hotel Casino to celebrate a $200 slot win—and rail against the law that forced her outside.
“This is horrible,” she said. “It sucks. I’m from Pennsylvania, and i can just as easily go 40 minutes up the road to Mount Airy and gamble there, where I can smoke,” she said, referring to a nearby slots parlor.
Sigmund comes to Trump Marina once a month.
“But if I can’t smoke, I won’t come here anymore,” she said.
The four Atlantic City casinos operated by Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. are down 10 percent, said J. Carlos Tolosa, the company’s eastern division president. The take from slot machines is down 20 percent, and table games are down 10 percent. And the Asian table games, which draw the heaviest smokers, are down 22 percent since the ban began.
At the three casinos run by Trump Entertainment Resorts, business is off 10 to 12 percent since the ban began.
“It’s pretty dramatic,” said Mark Juliano, the company’s CEO. “The reality is it’s had a negative impact on our business and would continue to do so going forward. It’s another negative we just can’t absorb right now.”
But some dealers dispute the casinos’ figures, saying their tips are actually up since smoking was eliminated. They say they see just as many customers as before.
Under the smoking ban law that was approved by the council in April, the casinos could set up enclosed, ventilated smoking lounges where gamblers could light up away from the slot machines and table games.
Eight of the 11 have done so; the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa has climate-controlled outdoor lounges. The Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, and its sister property, Resorts Atlantic City, made no provision for smokers, who have to go outside to light up.
String said she dreads going back to smoke-filled gambling tables.
“It chokes you,” she said. “And if you try to wave it out of your face, that’s discourtesy and cause for termination.
“You can’t back away from the table because you’re responsible for all those chips in front of you,” she added. “There’s no way to escape. It’s torture.”
