Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Thursday, March 10, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.
Regarding John Tominsky’s Monday letter to the editor, headlined “Casinos should respect patrons and ban smoking”:
I quit smoking 28 years ago, but I do recognize certain facts. Like it or not, gambling, smoking and drinking go together. Some casino patrons do smoke, especially in casinos that cater to tourists.
The last time I saw a Las Vegas casino, Silver City on Convention Center Drive, go completely nonsmoking, it went out of business. I was in there both before and after the smoking ban, and patronage was down more than 50 percent after.
By the time the casino tried to re-allow smoking, it was too late.
Some casinos have nonsmoking tables or small groups of nonsmoking machines, but those don’t help much. The few gray-haired people in senior complexes and elsewhere who choose not to patronize casinos that allow smoking will not really put a dent in their profit margins.
I was in a casino in Southern California recently that had a large room with gaming tables and many machines set aside for nonsmokers, and though the main room was very busy, the nonsmoking room was almost empty.
If, as Mr. Tominsky says, nonsmoking casinos will gain hundreds of customers, which I doubt, they will lose many hundreds more.
As far as smoking in casinos being a health hazard to employees, keep in mind that these employees knew about the smoking before they took the jobs.
Casinos will eventually ban smoking, but not until it makes economic sense. Right now, it doesn't, but eventually it will.
Michael
Hey, here's a novel idea....let the owners of the casinos decide whether to allow smoking or not. Likewise let the casino patrons decide whether to frequent a particular casino or not. I know this idea seems strange in a country where the government, Federal, State, and Local, all seem determined to control everything, but it's actually the core idea upon which this country was founded, ie. FREEDOM.
Well, if banning smoking is not feasible, how about requiring better air filtration systems? Been in the M, Southpoint or Bellagio, to name a few? They don't stink to high heaven! Compare them to Fiesta Rancho, Texas Station or AZ Charlie's. UGH! They all stink from the nasty habit of smoking! It's 22 miles (one way) from where we live to M, but we're there more often than the others, which are much, much closer. I don't want to leave a place with the taste of tobacco in my mouth or its retched odor on my clothing!
I side with those advocating a smoking ban in casinos.
Employees are not generally in a strong enough position to have anything approaching equal bargaining power with their casino employer. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, the government should intervene to ban smoking in all workplaces. The health of the employees trumps the freedom of choice in this situation.
Too bad the federal and state governments could not team up and ban smoking in all workplaces. Then the argument about losing business to a neighbouring state would no longer apply.
Always ignorant comments by smokers.
.
Silver City Casino closed down due to the lease ending and not being renewed. They were unable to remain open for that reason. They were doing just fine at the time of closure.
.
And again, there wouldn't be an issue between smokers and non-smokers if casinos would simply segregate a reasonable sized part of the property and designate it as non-smoking.
"I side with those advocating a smoking ban in casinos."
FromBellevilleCanada -- then stay in Canada and look up "relevance."
"And a woman is only a woman, but a good Cigar is a Smoke." -- Rudyard Kipling "The Betrothed"
So lvfacts, while adverse to breathing second-hand cigarette smoke, has no problem making a 44 mile round trip to gamble in a vehicle belching out:
Carbon Monoxide
Nitrogen dioxide
Sulphur dioxide
Benzene (a known carcinogen)
Formaldehyde
Polycyclic hydrocarbons
What a hypocrite. (Unless you're driving a fully electric car or a Flintstone's model, in which case please accept my apologies.)
Robert, Silver City Casino closed 10-31-1999. The world has changed since 1999. 80% of the general public are non smokers. The same ratio holds true for gambling. Therefore recent in depth studies have shown that gambling by non-smokers represent about the same % of the non-smoking public. Okay so lets compromise. How about most casinos having large non smoking gambling areas, say 30-50%. That would be fair. It would also give us respect for the majority of us that are non-smokers and that want to breath the good air.
A lot of California people here today. They like that fresh air, it's why they left Southern California. The only problem is that the fresh air is becoming almost non-existant outdoors, so what will you do about that?
Government Buildings = Government makes the rules
Private Enterprise = Owners make the rules (or stockholders as the case may be)
When Government crosses over into dictating to private business what they can/can't allow then Government should be prepared to help pay the costs involved in running said business.
Patrons = the right to choose whether or not they want to patronize any particular private business based on whether they like what they find there or not.
Simple concept - really, it is.
If our customers were all Americans, smoking would have been banned before now. However, the growth part of our market is non-Americans, who tend to smoke. So why, exactly, must we commit economic suicide to satisfy the declining part of our market and drive away growth?
The only reason the ban on smoking in bars and such got put up was these California transplants that come to Nevada to take our jobs and then the liberal a$$holes try to ram their preferences down our throats. They're as bad as the illegals WITH DEMANDS.
Don't try to change our state, move back to California, we don't want your liberal ideas and rants. Take Dirty Harry with you.
Thousands of people lost their jobs when the last partial van went into affect because many bars just simply cut out food.
I love it when you're sitting at a machine, playing and a california non-smoker comes and sits next to you and fans the smoke away while giving you dirty looks. WHY THE HELL DID YOU COME SIT NEXT TO ME, I was here first.
ARROGANT, ARROGANT, ARROGANT. If you don't like it LEAVE.
Tarbox.
.
I have no argument with your post. If I'm retarded enough to sit next to a smoker, I deserve to be drenched in it. Again, I'm not sure why any actual man would want to stick something shaped like that in their mouth, but to each their own.
.
But please give us the same respect. If you see somebody at a machine not smoking and you decide to sit down, have the manners to ask if we mind before you light up.
Totally agree with lvfacts101, ban it.
"the idea that banning smoking would cost casinos money is so childishly naive and stupid it truly would behoove this newspaper to get a clue and stop printing nonsense like that."
Martin9
You mean nonsense like this?
Uddeboda,
No, I meant freedom to ignore idiots like you.