'It’s a compulsive behavior. They all go together.'
The push to ban smoking in Atlantic City's casinos
The smell from tobacco smoke hangs in the air inside Atlantic City’s gaming floors, and smoke curls from the free hands of many players in most of the city’s nine casinos—which flourished in the 1980s when they were the only legal gambling option on the East Coast.
Past the white Roman statues that guard Caesars Atlantic City’s lobby, certain table games, including mini-baccarat and pai gow, draw a higher concentration of smokers, explained dealer Karen Legg. It is impossible to escape smoke while working the tables because nonsmoking areas are located next to smoking areas, she said.
“It’s like I’m working in an ashtray,” said Legg, who has worked at Caesars for 40 years.
Dealers like Legg are at the forefront of a post-pandemic push to ban smoking in Atlantic City casinos, which I reported on last week in The Wall Street Journal. Lawmakers held a hearing last week on a ban bill, but its momentum stalled when sponsor state Sen. Joe Vitale pushed back a preliminary vote until next month, citing a lack of support.
If enacted, the ban would change the character of casino floors whose attraction to patrons is based on vice, not virtue. Employee health would improve, proponents say, but operators warn of a decline in revenue that could lead to job losses or facility closures.
A 2021 industry-funded study called Atlantic City’s casinos a “prominent oasis for smokers” who aren’t allowed to puff at other indoor entertainment venues like theaters or bowling alleys. According to the study, 20.9% of casino patrons were smokers, compared with 13% of New Jersey residents.
That study by Spectrum Gaming Group, a private consulting firm, estimated that gross gaming revenue could decline between 4% and 11% if a smoking ban were enacted.
A group called Cease—Casino Employees Against Smoking’s (Harmful) Effects— questioned the threat of job losses, pointing to a smoke-free casino near Philadelphia that is thriving. They said Spectrum’s study is based on old data and doesn’t reflect post-pandemic realities.
The negative effects of smoking aren’t subject to the same dispute. The U.S. surgeon general said in 2006 that there was no safe level of secondhand smoke, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and lung cancer by up to 30% among nonsmoking adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A 2022 poll found most New Jersey residents supported a smoking ban in casinos. Several casino patrons who were smoking during interviews last week said they would come less frequently if a ban were enacted. Other patrons said they came in spite of the smoke.
Al DeMarco, 64, told me he comes to a casino here once a month, parks at a slot machine and lights up. Pulling the lever is intertwined with pulling on a cigarillo, and he said he would go to a casino in Pennsylvania if the ban passed.
“It’s a compulsive behavior,” he said. “They all go together.”
THE QUESTION: What was the name of the troubled casino that Donald Trump built in Atlantic City?
Have an answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: There were lots of great answers to this (subjective) trivia question, but I believe Cooperstown is most famous as the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Partial credit to those who mentioned Brewery Ommegang ;-)