Plainridge Park Slot Barn soft opening dazzles invitation-only crowd

Plainridge Park Casino soft opening dazzles invitation-only crowd

Show girls Xaviera Lysa, left, and Danielle Ringler welcome guests to Plainridge Park Casino’s soft opening Monday which was for invited guests only. The grand opening is Wednesday. To see a gallery of Monday’s opening, visit www.thesunchronicle.com/gallery/staff.

Posted: Monday, June 22, 2015 

BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF 

PLAINVILLE - As Gaming Commissioner James McHugh looked over a soft opening of Plainridge Park Casino, he explained that Massachusetts has the most restrictive gambling law in the country.

More casino profits will go into treatment and prevention of gambling addiction than in other states. Slot machines can warn customers when they hit a self-imposed spending limit. There are no free alcoholic drinks. Taxes are higher.

And, McHugh said, there will be no smoking allowed inside Plainridge or other casinos being developed in Massachusetts.

He said the ban is a public health restriction almost no other state has.

"We have more restrictions on what goes on here," he said.

The smoking-ban was a controversial move when the Legislature wrote it into a 2011 bill allowing one slot machine parlor and three full-fledged casinos.

Critics, such as state Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, said it would put Massachusetts at a competitive disadvantage and cause smokers to go to Rhode Island or Connecticut to gamble.

But, at the invitation-only soft opening Monday for the first of those gambling venues, some customers said they like the smoking ban.

The smoke can be so thick in out-of-state casinos they have visited that it becomes uncomfortable.

"I like that it's closer to home and there is no smoking,"George Pride of Norwell said.

"Twin River is too smoky," he said of the casino in Rhode Island.

"I like that there is no smoking. I'd rather not have smoking," said another customer who asked that he not be identified.

Customers said Plainridge made a good first impression on the trial run for Wednesday's official opening, when it will become the first expanded gambling facility in the state.

The machines are new, the facility is comfortable, there is ample nearby parking in the garage and its location in Plainville off Route 1 is convenient, visitors said.

The facility is a jolt to the senses. The music is loud, the slot machines ring and flash lights constantly, and the carpeting looks like the inside of a lava lamp with a swirl of bright red, yellow and blue.

Monday, Plainridge featured Las Vegas-style showgirls with 3-foot-high feathered headsets. There were men in athletic gear painted bronze and posing like sports statues.

But, the main attraction is the 1,250 slot machines and handful of video table games such as poker, blackjack and roulette. The table games were mostly ignored Monday afternoon, with the vast majority of the action going to the slot machines.

The slot machines are various themes to attract customers, while the electronic table games feature videos of busty women in low-cut dresses dealing the cards.

There is a Flutie's Sports Bar featuring memorabilia from football star Doug Flutie's career, a seafood restaurant and a food court with pizza, hamburgers and other fast food.

Live bands play in the Revolution Lounge.

There were some complaints about long waits for food service, but McHugh and the customers said Plainridge made a positive first impression.

"It's a vibrant, well-organized, energetic place," McHugh said.

"It's really nice," said Sue Siekiera of Pawtucket, adding that she favors it over the casinos she has been to in Connecticut and Atlantic City.

"I like the way it is set up," Pride said.

Wednesday, Plainridge opens for real. It will also stay open 24 hours a day.

But, in one more restriction unique to Massachusetts, there will be no alcoholic drinks allowed after 1 a.m.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/plainridge-park-casino-soft-opening-dazzles-invitation-only-crowd/article_330e98bf-5acb-5942-ab30-ceda72c308e7.html

Follow The Trend And Short Las Vegas Sands And Wynn Over The Next Months

Jun. 5, 2014

Summary

• Casino revenue data in May is an alarming signal echoing previous investor concerns over the impact of the crackdown of corruption and money laundering on casino operations.
• June data could be a big miss due to the World Cup.
• More unfavorable policies to come - Shortened term for stay of mainland transit visitors and smoking ban.
• LVS has been unable to break the downward trend line (lower highs), while WYNN failed to break the resistance at $220 with its release of impressive 2014Q1 results.

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau of Macau released the casino revenue data in May, which showed a yearly growth of 9.3% but fell short of analyst expectations of 13-15%. In response to the news, Macau-gaming-related stocks, such as Las Vegas Sands (LVS), Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and MGM Resorts (MGM) plunged around 2%-6% in the last trading session. Although some people may consider that the price decline was overdone since the revenue growth still maintained at a high single-digit percentage, smart money, in my opinion, should launch short positions in these stocks or at least stay on the sidelines in the next few months, based on the following reasons:

1) Impact of Beijing's efforts to combat corruption and money laundering

Casino revenue data in May is an alarming signal echoing previous investor concerns over the impact of the crackdown of corruption and money laundering on the casino operations. Under the leadership of President Xi, the China government has been committed to combating these illegal activities and has implemented strict measures in Macau from time to time, such as requiring monthly reports from casinos and junkets on suspicious transactions and players. Since then, the number of high rollers and government officials who used to be spotted betting millions has dwindled. In addition, China UnionPay, an issuer of credit cards, recently shut down the illegal use of cards and POS terminals in Macau, restricting touts in the mass halls of casinos from helping gamblers to access cash from their cards through bogus purchase transactions. Such measures contributed to the below-expectation casino revenue growth in May. According to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, there are "ill-gotten" funds worth of $202 billion channeling through Macau each year. As an effective means to combat corruption and money laundering, more policies pinpointing Macau casinos can be expected from the Beijing government.

2) June data could be a big miss due to the World Cup

World Cup could definitely keep gamblers away from casinos and the market seems underestimating this World Cup effect which poses the threat of first yearly revenue decline in the past five years. In 2010, the Macau gaming revenue suffered a 20% monthly fall during the World Cup period. If the gaming revenue experiences the same percentage drop in this June, it could amount to MOP25.9 billion (80% of MOP32.4 billion), representing an 8% yearly decline from MOP28.3 billion in June 2013. The negative figure could possibly stun the market and create huge downward pressure on the stock prices in the sector.

3) More unfavorable policies to come, without positive catalysts

According to Southern Metropolis Daily, the Macau government is studying the possibility to place a measure starting from this July to shorten the number of days mainland transit visitors allowed to stay in Macau from 7 days to 3-5 days. Moreover, the smoking ban in the mass halls of casinos will be enacted in October, which may largely reduce the time of smokers staying at gaming tables, or may give gamblers time and opportunities to consider leaving during smoking breaks. On the other hand, the legislative bill that would legalize casino gambling in Japan is only expected to be passed in an extraordinary session in the autumn. Therefore, I do not see any substantial catalysts that can force a rebound of the sector in the next few months.

4) Weak price action

(click to enlarge)

(Source: Finviz.com)
Since March 2014, both of the above charts have experienced turnarounds and established clear downtrends. Despite the historical highs achieved by DIA and SPY during the same period, both LVS and WYNN were generating negative returns for their investors. LVS has been unable to break the downward trend line (lower highs), while WYNN failed to break the resistance at $220 with its release of impressive 2014Q1 results. The RSI of both stocks remained under 50 most of the time since the beginning of March. If DIA and SPY start to consolidate from their peaks, it is highly probable that the price action of LVS and WYNN would become even weaker and their downtrend would be sustained. Do not trade against the trend. For long-term investors who believe in the fundamentals and the growth story of the companies, it is wiser to wait until a clearer picture is revealed at the release of June Macau casino revenue data and their Q2 results.

Final remarks

	Total revenue	Revenue from Macau operation	Percentage
LVS	4.01	2.72	68%
WYNN	1.51	1.13	75%
MGM	2.60	0.94	36%

(Source: Press release of 2014Q1 financial results, in billions)
LVS and WYNN generated 68% and 75%, respectively, of their revenues from Macau for the first quarter ended 31 March 2014. Meanwhile, Macau is their most important engine for business growth. In case Macau's casino revenue is suffering a downturn, their financial results of 2014Q2 will be severely affected. In my belief, short positions would reap a considerable profit in the next months.


http://seekingalpha.com/article/2254133-follow-the-trend-and-short-las-vegas-sands-and-wynn-over-the-next-months?source=email_rt_article_readmore&uprof=46

Spain refuses to genuflect to Sheldon Adelson

Spain's EuroVegas plan: US casino operator pulls plug

Proposed $30bn mega-resort outside Madrid abandoned after Spanish government rejects some of Las Vegas Sands demands

• Ashifa Kassam in Madrid
• The Guardian, Friday 13 December 2013

A US casino operator has abandoned plans to build a $30bn (£18bn) mega-resort, dubbed EuroVegas by the Spanish press, bringing an end to one of Spain's largest investment projects in recent years.
Las Vegas Sands, led by 80-year-old American billionaire Sheldon Adelson, had proposed a project outside Madrid that was to include 12 hotels, six casinos, a conference centre, golf courses, cinemas, shopping malls, bars and restaurants.

"We do not see a path in which the criteria needed to move forward with this large-scale development can be reached," Adelson said in a statement on Friday. "As a result we will no longer be pursuing this opportunity."

Las Vegas Sands announced in February that the Madrid suburb of Alcorcón was to be the site of Europe's first Las Vegas style resort. The project quickly earned the support of Spain's centre-right government, which hoped it would boost employment and tax revenues. The company forecast it would create up to 250,000 jobs in a country where one in four are out of work.

The Spanish government said on Friday that it had rejected some of the company's demands, such as guaranteed compensation in the event of future legislative changes.

"New conditions were put forward concerning taxes and legal protection … which could not be taken on board by the administrations involved," the deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaria, told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting.

"The government needs to preserve the general interests of all Spaniards," she added.

The project was widely opposed across Spain, including by those who worried the mega-casino would lead to increased crime and prostitution. Others protested against its environmental impact. Adelson had also wanted the law changed to allow smoking in his casinos.

In a statement earlier this year, the Catholic church waded into the controversy, expressing its concerns about the project. "The church supports initiatives that are designed to create wealth and employment, but not at any price," said the bishop of Getafe, a suburb located close to the proposed site.

News of the project's cancellation spread quickly, trending on Twitter within the first hour. "It's the best news we could have received," tweeted Leopoldo García. He said the project was an attempt by the company to take advantage of Spain's already battered economy.

Economist José Garcia Montalvo said it was hard to decide whether the news was good or bad. "On one hand, it was going to create jobs. And anything that creates jobs is a good thing," he said. "But what brought Spain into this crisis in the first place was our overreliance on construction. So the idea of building something to get out of this situation didn't seem like the best idea."

Lately, he said, he had started to warm to the initiative. "In a desperate situation, where there are no other ways to create jobs, I would say it was an acceptable solution."


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/13/spain-eurovegas-us-casino-operator-pulls-plug

Casino smoking an issue with Foxwoods workers

The Associated Press

Monday, Sept. 2, 2013

 

The smell of cigarette smoke hung heavily over the Great Cedar Hall at Foxwoods Resort Casino one recent weekday morning, as gamblers lit up freely in the cavernous slots machine room. Ventilation that workers say has improved over the years was keeping the smell to a minimum and eliminating what might otherwise have been clouds of smoke hanging over the giant room.

 

Though a union contract will bring table game dealers increased wages and other benefits, workers will still have to breathe in gamblers' smoke. Because Indian sovereignty prevails, state law banning indoor smoking in most Connecticut businesses does not apply to Foxwoods, which is owned by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe.

The employees' union, the United Auto Workers, has been able to negotiate improved air filters and regular maintenance schedules.

"It's part of the job," said Kathleen McNamara, a server who has worked at Foxwoods for 10 years.

Some areas at Foxwoods reserved for nonsmokers, and McNamara _ a smoker who's trying to quit _ said she can spend some time in smoke-free environments during her six-hour shift. Still, she said she's happy with her work.

In the contract overwhelmingly ratified by workers in recent voting, the UAW won an 11.5 percent wage increase over four years and the right for dealers to decide how to distribute tips.

But state Sen. Terry Gerratana, Senate chairwoman of the legislature's Public Health Committee, said lawmakers are stymied by tribal law, which can dictate things like smoking.

"It's like us telling Ireland what they can and can't do," she said.

Foxwoods did not respond to a request for comment.

Without a law in its toolbox, the state negotiated voluntary agreements several years ago with Foxwoods and neighboring Mohegan Sun that limit smoking areas. Then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell worried in 2009 about the prospect of a legal battle and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in slots revenue. The Mohegan tribal chairman threatened to withhold the state's share of slots machine revenue over a possible smoking ban and to sue in federal court.

Full smoking bans are not common at commercial casinos. The prospect of lost revenue has prodded local and state officials to exempt casinos from full smoking bans that are in place nearly everywhere else.

Pennsylvania law allows casinos to permit smoking on 50 percent of gaming floors.

Local law in Atlantic City, N.J., restricts smoking to no more than 25 percent of casinos and Nevada bans smoking in all areas of grocery and convenience stores, including gambling areas. But the state allows smoking in casino gambling areas where children are barred by law from loitering.

Nevada casinos also may designate separate areas such as poker rooms to be smoke-free.

Cynthia Hallett, executive director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, said smoking in casinos is an issue because the number of casinos is increasing in the United States.

"We have a growing workforce exposed to secondhand smoke," she said, adding that "ventilation can only do so much."

David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, said revenue has fallen in several states that banned smoking at casinos. As a result, lawmakers are reluctant to impose further restrictions, he said.

A significant, but unspecified, portion of gamblers smoke, leading researchers to see a link between smoking and gambling, Schwartz said.

"You gamble longer if you're smoking," he said.

For example, Atlantic City's Revel Casino-Hotel, which is competing with other casinos in the city known for gambling, is allowing smoking on the casino floor for the first time as one strategy to hold on to customers. A spokeswoman said the casino would not comment.

A Montana ban on smoking in taverns and casinos resulted in a steep revenue drop. In the state's 2010 budget year immediately after the ban took effect, video gambling machine taxes were $52.4 million, a 16 percent decline from the previous year.

Rick Ask, administrator of the Gambling Control Division of the Montana Department of Justice, said the weak economy was a factor but most of the revenue drop was the result of the state smoking law.

But casino operators don't believe they are losing potential customers as a result of smoking limits or bans, Ask said.

"Most would say, `Those are not my customers,'" he said.

Clyde Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at UMass Dartmouth, said studies disprove the industry's argument that smokers gamble more frequently than nonsmokers. And he contended the recession and weak economic recovery _ not smoking _ are to blame for falling casino revenue.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/sep/02/ct-casinos-smoking/
 

Lawsuit over GFalls casinos' smoking shelters

The Associated Press

GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- The Cascade County health department and the owners of several casinos in Great Falls are in a battle over a workaround the casino owners believe allows their customers to gamble while smoking.

Brothers Doug and K.C. Palagi and their attorney and business partner Gregory Smith filed a lawsuit against the Cascade City-County Board of Health after they were threatened with a misdemeanor citation alleging their smoking shelters violated Montana's Clean Indoor Air Act, the Great Falls Tribune (http://gftrib.com/17yI16o ) reported Sunday.

The act prohibits smoking in enclosed public places, but allows for smoking shelters that "are partially open to the outside air."

The Palagis say their five shelters, built at a cost of $50,000 each, have open slots where the walls meet the roof. Employees don't deliver drinks to the shelters, which are closed off from the rest of the casino.

The state Gambling Control Division requires video gambling machines to be in enclosed public spaces, where the clean air act says smoking is not allowed.

Competitors also argue that the Palagis aren't playing by the same rules they have to, while the Palagis argue they're businessmen who have found a competitive advantage within the law.

Bars and casinos saw trade decline when the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act went into effect for such businesses in October 2009.

The Gambling Control Division said between 2009 and 2010, the division saw its first decline in tax revenue from video gambling machines. Part of the decline was due to the recession.

The Palagis' first smoking shelter opened in August 2011.

"When we decided to build the first two (smoke shelters), it wasn't like we decided we discovered this great loophole," Smith said. "We were thinking: 'Hey, this is a win-win.'"

He said when customers walk into casinos they have to walk past people who are outside smoking.

"We were thinking we'll get these people out of the way so nonsmokers don't have to walk through the smoke. They're happy, and we are," Smith said.

Court records say the Palagis submitted proposed floor plans for the roofed smoking structures to the Liquor Licensing Division and the Gambling Control Division and that they were approved by the County Board of Health.

In April, District Judge Greg Pinski denied the health department's request for an order closing the shelters until the issue is decided at trial.

"The board failed to show it will suffer any irreparable harm," Pinski wrote. He said the health board failed to present evidence that an injunction was in the public interest while the Palagis presented evidence that the public is better served by the smoking structures.

Following Pinski's decision, a group of residents including those in the health profession and business owners sought to intervene in the lawsuit. They created a nonprofit group called Montanans Who Support the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act.

Former lobbyist Jim Ahrens was appointed president of the nonprofit. He says a couple of bar owners also joined the group because they don't want patrons smoking indoors and see the Palagis smoking shelters as an illegal competitive advantage.

"It's a public health issue," Ahrens said. "I've been around Montana with all that smoking stuff, and I'm more than happy now to not have to go into any public buildings with smoke," he said.
A trial is expected this fall.

The county attorney's office declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/22/3514508/lawsuit-over-gfalls-casinos-smoking.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/22/3514508/lawsuit-over-gfalls-casinos-smoking.html

PA: NO Monthly Statements

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts 'GAMING' Future

After numerous attempts I finally got to talk with the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Bill Ryan. He was taking questions on the PENNSYLVANIA CABLE NETWORK call in program. You can hear my question by opening the video link below. The video is an hour long, but if you go to the timer on the bottom left side and put it on forty two minutes thirty seconds, (42:30) you will hear my question.

http://pcntv.com/blog/2013/05/01/may-1-pa-gaming/

 

 

 

 

Bill Kearney•a day ago

 

When governments make vices legal you’re left with no other
choice but to put regulations into the laws that govern these vices. When it comes
to the gaming industry vice I know that putting regulations into gaming laws
things like No 24/7 Gambling, No Free Booze, No Smoking, No Check Cashing, No
Interest Free Credit, No Free Play, No Comps, and making casino operators send
Casino Monthly Statements along with making them and their employees intervene
when their patrons are gambling excessively will stop the ‘BREEDING’ of
compulsive casino gambling degenerates who will become criminals. These regulations
will also make it an even playing field for business owners that are within a
10 to 20 mile radius of casinos, especially those who have liquor, food, and
entertainment licensees.

To learn more about this ‘VICE’ know today as ‘GAMING’ go on
line and Google-up Bill Kearney on casino gambling.

 

Revel bankruptcy plan includes allowing smoking

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘Gaming’ Future

Casino operators are firm believers of the old saying 'you can't take it with you'

Associated Press - March 26, 2013 - Revel bankruptcy plan includes allowing smoking

Revel bankruptcy plan includes allowing smoking
Posted: Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Associated Press |

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City's only smoke-free casino will soon allow patrons to light up on the gambling floor.
As part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Revel says it plans to create a smoking area on the casino floor.

The $2.4 billion resort opened last April as the only non-smoking casino in Atlantic City. But that prohibition was seen by many as one of the reasons Revel struggled, and ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Monday night.

Its filing lists $1.1 billion in assets and $1.5 billion in liabilities.

The casino says it plans to exit bankruptcy court by May 30. The restructuring will wipe out 82 percent of its debt, leaving it with a manageable $272 million in debt.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/ap/state/nj/revel-bankruptcy-plan-includes-allowing-smoking/article_34131617-74f5-5f19-8a19-27d99c838950.html

 

Casinos blow hot and cold on smoking policy

December 16, 2012|By Suzette Parmley, Inquirer Staff Writer

ATLANTIC CITY - They're hard to miss. Follow the smell, or the smoke billowing over their slot machines. Gambler-smokers are as much a fixture at casinos as cocktail waitresses in skimpy outfits.
But are gambling and smoking inextricably linked?

"They go together," Paul Fischer, a limousine driver from Clifton, N.J., said as he took a puff while playing a $1 slot at the Borgata recently.

"Every time I push a button on a slot machine, it goes hand-in-hand with the nicotine going to my brain," said Fischer, 62, who has been smoking for four decades. "It's the best of both worlds."

Christine LaCoste, an EMT from Bayville, Ocean County, said she experiences a similar craving whenever she's at a casino.

"Everything starts in your head and works its way down," LaCoste said, her left hand holding a cigarette and her right hand working a penny slot at Caesars on Wednesday. "It's an adrenalin rush.
Even when I stopped smoking . . . I'd go to a casino and buy cigarettes."

Eleven of Atlantic City's 12 casinos permit smoking on 25 percent of their gaming floors. All except Revel, which is completely nonsmoking and has taken heat for it.

In Pennsylvania, all 11 casinos permit smoking on 50 percent of their floors.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta estimates that one in every four gamblers smokes; past studies by the University of Nevada, Reno, put the number at 20 percent to 25 percent.

In Atlantic City's primary gambling market, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, about 85 percent of adults do not smoke, the CDC said.

Though there is no definitive research to explain the apparent connection between gambling and smoking, interviews with a half-dozen random patrons at Atlantic City and Pennsylvania casinos found that among those who smoked - four of the six - lighting up at a casino came naturally, and that income level had nothing to do with the affinity for doing both.

For Revel, the issue is a touchy one. The $2.4 billion mega-casino has been struggling since it opened April 2 as Atlantic City's first fully nonsmoking casino.

Whether Revel - which last month finished next-to last among the dozen casinos in gross gaming revenue - is being hurt financially because gamblers can't smoke there, or whether that's just one of several factors ailing it, is difficult to say.

$2.3 BILLION Foxwoods' Debt, Declining Revenues

Couple the article below about Foxwoods' massive debt with previous articles indicating declining revenues, declining patrons and market saturation, why would Massachusetts believe this makes sense?

Weak economy, competition press casino debt

                                       

July 10, 2012

Associated Press

 

HARTFORD, Conn.—The chairman of the Indian tribe that runs Foxwoods Resort Casino in eastern Connecticut said Tuesday that the weak economy and sharply rising competition in the Northeast are hindering efforts to renegotiate $2.3 billion in debt.

 

 

 

 

Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, said in an interview on WNPR radio that casinos expected to open in Massachusetts in the next few years and table games that he believes will be approved by voters in Rhode Island in November will sharply cut into revenue for Foxwoods and its competitors.

Competition also is coming from New York City's first legalized gambling "racino" at Aqueduct Racetrack and slot machine casinos in Pennsylvania.

"What we're doing at Mashantucket is working with our lenders and we're talking about, 'Here's the reality of today and the economy, here's where it may be in the future but don't get your hopes up,'" he said.

"The near term outlook isn't that bright from a revenue outlook," Butler said. "Let's all accept that and work on it. It's simple math: Here's how much we earn, here's how much debt we can support and let's come to an agreement and work it out."

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, which operates the neighboring Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut and another in Wilkes Barre, Pa., also has renegotiated debt. The two casinos and others borrowed to finance expansion and were caught short at the start of the recession in late 2007.

"It's a big growth story," Butler said. "We have one of the world's largest casinos and you can't build those for free so you have to take on incremental debt to do that and that's what the tribe chose to do over the years."

Butler also said more limits on smoking in the casino are not likely as Foxwoods seeks to cater to patrons who enjoy smoking while gambling.

In 2003, the Connecticut legislature banned smoking in bars and restaurants, but exempted private clubs and the two tribal casinos. The state Supreme Court upheld the law in 2007.

Smoking is banned at Foxwoods restaurants and other areas, but not at most gambling areas, Butler said.

"The politicians decided very quickly, those are our values," he said. "But the patrons are the ones who are spending the money. They want to smoke."

Butler said he's not a smoker and can't persuade his wife to visit the casino "because she says it smells like smoke."

"We do still have $2.3 billion in debt that we have to pay off. We have to provide a service to the patrons," he said.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2012/07/10/weak_economy_competition_press_casino_debt/

When the over-stated revenue projections fail to materialize, the Gambling Industry will already have an excuse.

And Clyde can return to counting license plates.

Ban on smoking a test for Mass. casinos

Bay State law could affect their ability to compete

By Mark Arsenault

| Globe Staff June 30, 2012

It is an old saw in the gambling industry that antismoking policies hurt revenue by driving away a casino’s best customers.

With Massachusetts preparing to open smoke-free gambling resorts, the industry’s conventional wisdom will be put to the test. The local casinos will have to compete with established facilities in Rhode Island and Connecticut that permit gamblers to light up.

“It will be an interesting experiment to see whether people will drive an extra two hours to smoke,” said Kevin DeSanctis, chief executive of Revel Entertainment Group, the company that owns the elaborate new Revel Atlantic City, one of the most prominent smoke-free casinos in America. It opened in April.

Casinos are among the last indoor refuges for smokers, though pressure from ­casino employees and public health groups is slowly driving smoking bans and partial bans onto the gambling floor.

Though only about 20 percent of adults in the country smoke, “the conventional wisdom in the industry is that smoking is good for business and they have consistently opposed smoking bans,” said Clyde Barrow, a casino specialist at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The industry generally believes “that smokers gamble more,” though the belief is not backed up with much scientific research.

In setting their smoking policy, Revel executives concluded that going smoke-free fit best with long-term plans to maximize nongambling revenue at the resort.

“We felt that you couldn’t do it halfway,” said DeSanctis, in an interview. “We decided to make it smoke-free and give ourselves the opportunity to learn whether this is problematic for folks who not only like to gamble but also like to smoke.”

So far, the jury is out.

“I have not received one negative comment on being smoke-free,” said DeSanctis. “I’ve received a lot of positive comments. I think it’s the way of the future.”

However, Revel’s gambling revenues have been lower than expected.

“People say [the no-smoking policy] has to be a contributing factor, and it may be, but I don’t know to what extent,” said ­DeSanctis. “On a long-term ­basis we believe it will work to our benefit, but it is way too early to tell.”

Stephanie Steinberg, founder of Smoke-Free Gaming, a Colorado-based advocacy group for casino patrons and employees, contends that smoking bans are good for a casino’s bottom line over the long term.

“We calculated that smokers die 14 years sooner than nonsmokers,” she said. “That’s 14 years of lost revenue for a casino.”

In writing the Massachusetts casino law, state legislators thought seriously about the ­effects of smoking policies on gambling revenue, said state Senator Stanley Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat and an ­architect of the 2011 state law that legalized casino gambling. The law bans smoking in Bay State casinos.

“In making that decision [to prohibit smoking], you understand that you are affecting the economics of the facility,” Rosenberg said. Some revenue may be lost to out-of-state casinos that permit smoking. “That said, successful facilities don’t need smoking to succeed.”


Beacon Hill spent more time discussing the smoking ban than the consequences of FREE ALCOHOL.

The Connecticut tribal casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, offer smoking and nonsmoking gambling areas. Twin River slot parlor in Rhode ­Island, which is seeking to ­expand with table games, has 121,250 square feet of casino floor space for smoking and 36,850 square feet for nonsmokers, according to a spokeswoman for the facility.

Barrow said the perception that smoking bans reduce revenue may be mistaken, and that casino operators may be at fault. Casino operators often fill their nonsmoking rooms with older and less interesting slot machines and lower-stakes ­table games, under the assumption that the more enticing ­offerings should be available for smokers, he said.

“In a sense, they create the reality that the nonsmoking ­area creates less revenue per customer by the way they structure the areas,” said Barrow.

He suggested that the casino industry’s view on smoking is backwards, and that a smoking ban could enhance business, ­especially in New England where smoking rates are generally below the national average.

“You have three-quarters of gamblers who are nonsmokers,” he said. “And given the ­option, they’re going to avoid being in smoke and then making a trip to the dry cleaner. I think you have the opportunity to pull people out of Rhode ­Island and Connecticut, especially if they’re equidistant.”

“Massachusetts is going to be an interesting test case to see whether this is a competitive advantage,” said Barrow. “I think it will be.”


http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/06/30/smoking-ban-massachusetts-casinos-will-test-conventional-wisdom/SXmJP5LL14RAdf6sTF9v5K/story.html

Fighting to keep low wage jobs

LETTER: Tribe not concerned about air quality

To the Telegram: Mike Wiggins Jr., chairman of the Bad River Indian Nation claims to be concerned about “air quality” in an article published June 13 when it comes to iron ore mines, yet workers employed in the Bad River Casino are forced to work in a smoke-filled workplace, which is more devastating to human health than any mine would be.

To the Telegram:
Mike Wiggins Jr., chairman of the Bad River Indian Nation claims to be concerned about “air quality” in an article published June 13 when it comes to iron ore mines, yet workers employed in the Bad River Casino are forced to work in a smoke-filled workplace, which is more devastating to human health than any mine would be.

Mike Wiggins Jr. doesn’t want to discuss the quality of air in casinos ... this was his only response to me when I tried to broach the issue with him.

Putting an end to smoking in a casino is very simple — a few cheap signs would do the trick.

Mike Wiggins Jr. has lost all credibility when he talks about how an iron ore mine would cause a deterioration in air quality when the smoke in the casino where he has the power to actually do something for an improvement in air quality, for improving human health, and he does nothing. What a hypocrite Mike Wiggins Jr. is.

The real reason Mike Wiggins Jr. opposes this iron ore mining operation so close to his smoke-filled casino is the Bad River Casino would have to compete with the high wages of the mining industry as casino workers rush to get out of this smoke-filled casino for better wages and a healthier working environment.

Come on Mike, tell the truth; it is the high wages of the mining industry you really are opposed to that you are so loathe to have to compete with.

By the way, Mike, how much do you pay casino workers for risking their health working in your smoke-filled casino?

Does Mike Wiggins Jr. not know about the cancers, heart and lung problems and complications for those suffering from diabetes attributable to second-hand smoke?

I challenge Mike Wiggins Jr. to respond to me and explain: Why, if he is so concerned about air quality, he continues to allow smoking in the Bad River Casino?

And what about all of these politicians opposing this mine depriving workers of better pay and a healthier working environment than that provided by the Indian Gaming Industry, which — coincidentally? — contributes very lavishly to their campaign coffers?

And what about all these so called “environmental organizations” consisting of muddle-headed middle class intellectuals who use this anti-mining crap as a ploy to stuff envelopes begging for contributions complaining about “air quality” when they sit in their smoke-free offices and remain silent as over two-million workers across the country are forced to work in these smoke-filled casinos?

Alan L. Maki,
director of organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers
Organizing Council
Warroad, Minn.

http://www.superiortelegram.com/event/article/id/67551/group/Opinion/

What can Toronto learn from Montreal’s downtown casino?

“I lost everything,” he said in French. His eyes turned red and welled up with tears when he mentioned a friend who killed himself after doing the same.

Casino employees are not permitted to speak to media on the record, but three confirmed that a few gamblers, not wanting to leave their seats for the washrooms, have been known to relieve themselves on the carpets. Others wear diapers into the building.

Long-standing rumours of suicides on the premises persist. But according to Quebec coroner’s office, there is only one on record: 46-year-old Daniel Naudi shot himself in the head in the casino parking lot in 2001 after, according to his family, he lost a large sum of money.

Naudi had signed up for the self-exclusion list — whereby gamblers ask the casino not to let them in any more — but had taken himself off the list one year before his death. “There is place to question whether inclusion of Naudi on the self-exclusion list could have prevented his suicide,” reads the coroner’s report.

Wherever the deaths occur, there’s a clear link between gambling and suicide in the province. Between 2001 and 2009, the most recent available data, 246 people killed themselves due to problem gambling. (The death is considered gambling-related if a suicide note mentions gambling, or if family confirm the death was related to a gambling addiction.)


What can Toronto learn from Montreal’s downtown casino?
Wendy Gillis Staff Reporter
The Star

MONTREAL — It’s 1:22 a.m. and Marie, holding a cup of stale coffee in her left hand, repeatedly hits the green ‘Play’ button with her right. She doesn’t dare take her eyes off the glowing purple screen a few inches from her face.

On either side of the frigid St. Lawrence river, most of Montreal is sleeping. But she and hundreds of others are slouched atop stools under flashing coloured lights, feeding $20s into one of 3,200 slot machines at the city’s island gambling mecca, Casino Montreal.

“I like to come late, around 11 or midnight,” Marie (not her real name) says in French over the dissonant chorus of ringing slot machines. “That’s when it’s less busy.”

If Torontonians want to see what could happen if a casino set up shop, this five-storey building on a man-made island may be the best place to look.

Related: Do casinos drive up the crime rate?


Nearly 20 years ago, Montreal became the first major Canadian city to open a casino. The same debate now dividing Toronto city hall raged in Quebec in 1992, when a gaming house was suggested as a way to help fill depleting provincial coffers.

Detractors predicted the casino would draw prostitutes and pimps, prompt pawn shops and create jobs, indeed — for loan sharks and drug pushers. The mayor of the Mount Royal suburb called it morally bankrupt; in a leaked confidential letter to the province’s tourism minister, Montreal’s chief of police warned of the potential for an increase in crime.

But with a growing number of Quebecers heading south for their gambling fix (between 1988 and 1992 alone, the number going to U.S. casinos doubled, according to Loto-Quebec) Montreal opted to take advantage of the huge profit potential. In a 1992 municipal vote, councillors resoundingly voted in a casino.

One year later, the building’s glass doors opened on Ile de Notre Dame, an island constructed for Expo ’67. It’s been a vache d’argent — cash cow — ever since, winning the Quebec government about $200 million per year, $4.1 billion since the first cards were dealt. Unlike a cut of the revenue expected for Toronto if the casino comes to town, the City of Montreal gets no portion of those profits.

The casino’s early success was thanks not to beginner’s luck but to Montreal’s insatiable gambling appetite. More than 12,000 people regularly flocked to the casino per day, far surpassing the anticipated 5,000. The enthusiasm persisted, and three years (and 10 million visits) later, Loto-Quebec, the government agency that operates the province’s four casinos, expanded its Montreal location into a nearby building.

Soon after, security guards stopped kicking out gamblers at the 5 a.m. closing time; in 1997 the government began hosting a 24-7 party.

“I’ve got nowhere else to be,” said smiling truck driver Klause Mueller, betting $25 on red at 4 a.m. on a recent Tuesday morning. The roulette tables teem with eager gamblers, some running around placing chips on various tables, jittery from the free coffee.

In the high-roller sections, the real money ($1,000 bets, anyone?) is spent at blackjack and poker tables.

“It’s going really well for us,” says Germain Guitor, vice-president of sales and marketing for Quebec’s casinos. “I think we’re managing a really good business, we have a great customer base, we’re doing some exciting things, and we’re contributing to the economy, to society.”

The casino’s close yet remote location has been an important factor. Though it’s near downtown, gamblers must drive or take the subway and a shuttle bus to the island facility. It’s what an Ontario Place casino might be: near the city centre, but not a five-minute trip you make on your lunch hour.

The relative isolation has allowed security and police to keep a watchful eye, said Lieut. Ian Lafrenière, a spokesperson for the Montreal police. Despite warnings of increased crime, there are zero statistics to suggest a spike in illegal activity, he said.

That said, “we’re not stupid,” Lafrenière added; organized crime can be present wherever there’s potential to make money. But the types of crimes that tend to be committed around casinos, such as loan sharking, are usually not reported, making them difficult to monitor. He also says the impact of the casino on crime may be felt in other parts of the city.

Nonetheless, police have barely had to increase their presence on the island, in the form of two paid-duty police officers who help direct traffic. The casino’s security staff and many cameras keep careful watch inside and outside the building.

The importance of the location became apparent when, in 2006, Loto-Quebec tried to move the casino. The ambitious project — a casino, hotel and entertainment project with Cirque du Soleil — was not possible on the island, so Loto-Quebec suggested Pointe St. Charles.

The inner-city neighbourhood near the downtown is populated by many low-income people, and there was a massive backlash from community groups and problem gambling experts who said the location could lead to trouble.

“Where it is now, it takes a certain amount of effort to get there, and we didn’t want that to change,” said Jean-François Biron, a researcher with Montreal’s health and social services agency and an author on a study of the possible casino move. “We concluded that it would not contribute to the health of Montrealers and, to the contrary, could have created problems.”

The project was shelved because of the opposition. Loto-Quebec has instead taken on a billion-dollar renovation project to keep the casino competitive in a market that it says has increased ten-fold in the past decade, with the explosion of casinos in Canada and the U.S., VLTs in bars and the proliferation of online gambling.

Still, the St. Lawrence has not buffered the city from social problems. Signs of pathological gambling aren’t hard to spot in rooms where some gamblers spend hour after hour at the slots or so-called one-armed bandits, entranced and unmoving.

Casino employees are not permitted to speak to media on the record, but three confirmed that a few gamblers, not wanting to leave their seats for the washrooms, have been known to relieve themselves on the carpets. Others wear diapers into the building.

Long-standing rumours of suicides on the premises persist. But according to Quebec coroner’s office, there is only one on record: 46-year-old Daniel Naudi shot himself in the head in the casino parking lot in 2001 after, according to his family, he lost a large sum of money.

Naudi had signed up for the self-exclusion list — whereby gamblers ask the casino not to let them in any more — but had taken himself off the list one year before his death. “There is place to question whether inclusion of Naudi on the self-exclusion list could have prevented his suicide,” reads the coroner’s report.

Wherever the deaths occur, there’s a clear link between gambling and suicide in the province. Between 2001 and 2009, the most recent available data, 246 people killed themselves due to problem gambling. (The death is considered gambling-related if a suicide note mentions gambling, or if family confirm the death was related to a gambling addiction.)

Geneviève Guilbault, spokesperson for the provincial coroner, could not say if the casino’s presence prompted an increase in suicides because the office cannot get figures from 1993 without an access-to-information request, she said.

According to Sol Boxenbaum, a gambling addiction counsellor and critic of government-run gambling, many gambling suicides are not recorded as such because of the prevailing stigma. When one of his clients committed suicide a few years ago, the death was not documented as gambling-related because the man’s family would not confirm that he was an addict.

Gambling has also increased homelessness, said Matthew Pearce, executive director of Old Brewery Mission, a downtown Montreal homeless shelter.

“The casino, and state-sponsored gambling such as lottos, is — and I’ll say it categorically — a generator of homelessness,” he said. “The state is creating homelessness on one hand and then trying to support organizations like ours on the other.”

More than other types of addiction they see at the shelter, such as drinking and drugs, gambling is extremely difficult to resolve, Pearce said.

One man staying at Old Brewery Mission, who asked for anonymity, said he became addicted to gambling after the Montreal casino opened.

“I lost everything,” he said in French. His eyes turned red and welled up with tears when he mentioned a friend who killed himself after doing the same.

“It’s a very, very powerful addiction, gambling. And most addicted are the governments right now,” Boxenbaum said. “They don’t want to know about the consequences; they just want the instant gratification.”

Among the major criticisms of the Montreal casino is that just 10 per cent of the visits come from outside the province — meaning the majority of the money brought in is from Quebecers.

It’s what Quebec calls a voluntary tax — “you get the same services whether you play or not, it’s a choice,” said Jean-Pierre Roy, spokesperson with Loto-Quebec.

Both Roy and Guitor say that for the vast majority of their clients, a visit to the casino is like going to a show or out for dinner. People don’t feel they’re losing money, he says; they’re spending it, with the added bonus that they might get it back, and then some.

“The truth is, I personally think I have one of the most noble jobs in Quebec, because gambling is … a leisure activity,” said Guitor. “This company satisfies that need or that want for diversion or excitement, and the monies that we collect and contribute to society contribute positively to the collectivity of Quebec.”

That’s not to say that Loto-Quebec doesn’t acknowledge there are problem gamblers, he said. Casino staff are trained to watch for signs of addiction — there are employees whose full-time job is to watch for people who have put themselves on the self-exclusion list.

Loto-Quebec also contributes $22 million to the ministry of health and social services to help fund prevention and educational programs and hotlines, and the province recently earned the highest level of certification for responsible gambling by the World Lottery Association.

So what are the odds that Toronto will get a casino?

Montrealers at the casino, perhaps not surprisingly, can’t agree on whether it’s a good bet.

“Do it, and let me smoke, let me drink, and I’ll come,” said Louis Panichelli, enjoying a drink at the bar, the only place you’re allowed to consume alcohol at the casino. “Toronto will have to loosen up, though.”

Outside on a smoke break, Martine Laroche, disagrees, saying it will encourage too many people to come.

Back at the slots, where he’s just won $40 thanks to triple 7s, 78-year-old Andre Ouellette laughs uproariously upon learning Toronto doesn’t have a casino.

“Why not?” he says, regaining his composure. “Though I guess it’s really up to you.”

Montreal Casino, by the numbers

• Annual profits to Quebec government: $200 million

• Total profits since the casino opened in 1993: $4.1 billion

• Total visits since the casino opened: 108 million

• Visits per year: 6 million

• Visitors: 90% from Quebec; 10% out of province

• Average age of gambler: 57

• Employees: 3,000

• Average visit: 4 hours

Gambling is an institutional disaster

Gambling is an institutional disaster
By CRAIG LADWIG

Thinking about what is wrong with the Indiana Legislature sometimes has centered on gambling. That is gambling not in the gestalt but in the specific -- state sanctioned, licensed and taxed. And no, this is not a sermon.

Moral concerns are only part of it. A citizenry putting its faith in numbers, the flip of cards or the roll of a dice makes for a weak economic, social and political base. Or conversely, a society providing its citizens no more hope of meeting aspirations than a stroke of luck is a stagnant society.

State-sponsored gambling once was a certain definer of third-world status. Now, though, the Indiana Legislature accepts without serious dissent the various justifications for its gambling operations -- all of them promising increased revenue for an inarguable common good.

Absent from the Legislature's discussions, predictably, is the corrupting influence to its own process, institutions and incentives -- its soul, if you will.

"Proposed bans on political contributions from gambling interests are tacit admissions, in case anyone still doubted it, that the licensure process is particularly vulnerable to corruption," wrote Guy Galvert for the Cato Institute. "Government piles on the regulations and then holds open the door to those seeking differential gains through political means."

Note the pressure on the Statehouse to exempt casinos from any statewide smoking ban. Such pressure will increase with gambling income lagging during this recession.

The Legislative Services Agency estimates that

Indiana would lose more than $180 million per year in taxes if gamblers

couldn't light up. A Senate GOP leader told The

Associated Press last session that a hearing on a smoking ban was conditional on an exemption for casinos. "That's just shooting ourselves in the foot," he said in reference to losing revenue from sanctioned gambling.

But whose foot? Indiana citizens or career politicians? One can only wish that the Legislature protected other businesses with as much vigor. It was not long ago that our representatives in Indianapolis considered their top priority the creation and then strengthening of jobs and industries that provided salaries to support young families. It now seems most intent on creating more gamblers.

Officially licensed casinos and lotteries dominate our advertising mediums. Drop into a convenience store for a gallon of milk and you stand in a queue of the marginally employed waiting to buy or cash lottery tickets -- that or cigarettes taxed at a rate just below what would support contraband.

"If we have to pay taxes," the voice in our other ear argues, "we might as well pay them on something that brings enjoyment and relaxation."

It is true that most of us can appreciate the challenge and occasional exultation of beating the odds, the sense of abandon that comes with spending a paycheck in defiance of that oppressive weekly budget. But that is to confuse apples (gambling) with oranges (officially sanctioned gambling).

An individual choosing to gamble can be a personal, family, moral or social problem. Official sanction, though, is an institutional disaster. It gives politicians an incentive to capitalizing on our lesser impulses -- increasing the size and scope of government in the process, exorbitantly so.

On Nov. 8, 1988, Indiana voters approved a lottery referendum by 62 percent. They consequently and unintentionally created a new type of government revenue, one without political complaint.

Before, when the Legislature abused the power to tax our groceries, home or paycheck, we tended to gather in groups to march on Indianapolis to exercise legislative or judicial remedy. Gambling revenue, though, proved different.

Gamblers don't organize. An incumbent is unlikely to be challenged at election time for squandering money diverted from money that itself was being squandered. Only the inheritance tax, a tax on dead people, is less activating, and it generates but a fraction of the revenue.

The politically powerful rightly see state gambling as revenue without accountability -- the rarest of commodities in Indianapolis, money that can be spent however the leadership sees fit. As such, it is a chief financier of political ambition and the expansion of government beyond the public's ability to monitor it.

So place all the bets you wish, fellow Hoosiers, officialdom still wins. We are learning that this was the worst deal Indiana ever made.

Craig Ladwig is editor of The Indiana Policy Review.

Growing Gambling Addiction

Xenophon hoses down compo for clubs Lisa Martin

Calls to compensate community clubs over planned poker machine reforms have been dismissed as a red herring.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has indicated she is open to discussing issues such as compensation for charities that might lose out under new poker machine rules.

"We are in discussions with the gaming industry and of course we're open to discussions with groups of all types," she told ABC Radio in Brisbane.

"We want to get this right. We want to get it right so that it works for everyone."

But independent senator Nick Xenophon says discussion about compensation for community groups is a "red herring."

"This debate should be about good public policy," Senator Xenophon told reporters in Canberra.

Under a deal struck with independent MP Andrew Wilkie, Labor wants pokie players to pre-set a gambling limit on how much they want to spend, in an effort to stem problem gambling.

The pre-commitment technology would only apply to high-intensity betting machines.

Mr Wilkie is also pushing for a reduction in high-intensity machines and wants clubs to reprogram machines to cap losses at $120 an hour rather than $1200 an hour.

Clubs are rallying against the changes, saying it will cost them too much.

Ms Gillard said the plan was not about stopping people who enjoyed a Friday night out at their local club.

"Probably too many Australians know someone who's wrecked their life because of poker machine addiction and probably they want to see a better way of dealing with that," she said.

"Well so do I and we'll work through to get the scheme right."

Senator Xenophon said people should consider the fact that 100,000 Australians already had problem gambling addictions and lose $21,000 a year each.

Senator Xenophon said 200,000 more were at risk of developing problem gambling habits.

"We didn't compensate clubs and hotels when we put in smoking bans," he said.

The senator is concerned about continued misinformation in the reform debate.

"You can't trust the pokie industry to properly represent research, they would look at the bible and say it's highly critical of Jesus," he said.

Indiana House OKs smoking ban with bars exempted

Indiana House OKs smoking ban with bars exempted

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana House on Monday approved a statewide smoking ban that includes exemptions for casinos, bars, clubs and even nursing homes.

The Republican-led House voted 68-31 Monday to approve the bill on the same day that nearly 300 anti-smoking advocates gathered at the Statehouse to urge lawmakers to support the bill.

Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster, said people who work in smoke-filled environments shouldn't have to choose between their job and their health.

"The time has come," she said. "It is 100 percent about workplace safety."

Ending ban a smokescreen

In Beacon Hill's effort to genuflect to the Gambling Industry for their generous contributions, their flawed legislation included an exemption from the smoking ban, successfully employed in a sleight of hand to distract from serious flaws.

One Republican Senator (who fancies himself a comedian and would save taxpayer dollars should he pursue that career) wasted precious oxygen submitting frivolous legislation and mounting the soapbox of "The Nanny State" as his mantra.

Here's another man's opinion:


Ending ban a smokescreen for other problems

It pains me to disagree with the Schockinator two time times in a mere two months, but despite the abject fear our pit-bull-dispensing mayor strikes in the very core of my being, I’m gonna take issue with him yet again.

In addition to his inadvertent Walgreens radio ad, Elgin Mayor Ed Schock said that although he’s all for smoke-free restaurants and bars, he supports a current Springfield initiative exempting casinos from the state’s indoor smoking ban.

The lobbyists behind the proposed gambling boat exception claim the 2008 ban immediately tanked the Elgin Grand Victoria’s revenues by a whopping 22 percent. Call me crazy, or maybe they just have very short memories, but can anyone think of another major 2008 event that could have had some bearing on the situation? Anyone?

Quite frankly, when you consider the seemingly eternal effects of our subprime mortgage subterfuge, I’m surprised Grand Victoria revenues are only down 33 percent since 2007. All economic evidence notwithstanding, the gaming industry insists on blaming the lack of smoking for the declining returns. They claim smoker-friendly Iowa and Indiana casinos haven’t suffered nearly the same fate as their Illinois counterparts.

While that’s certainly true, is it the smoking ban or is it the lack of appeal in Illinois’ smaller, outdated gambling boats? When an older Rock Island facility was replaced with a brand new boat in December 2008, it immediately did more business than a smoking casino a stone’s throw across the river in Davenport, Iowa.

But all specious lobbyist arguments aside, even if this smoking exception is granted — and the economy improved yesterday — the Grand Victoria faces long odds of ever returning to her halcyon days. The Des Plaines casino is almost ready to go, and Chicago — with all her clout — will eventually have one of her own as well. Don’t forget that Gov. Quinn continues to push video gaming as a means to cover his $31 billion capital bill. All that new competition compounded by video poker in local bars can’t possibly bode well for the old girl’s bottom line.

Even if a partial smoking ban repeal would restore the Grand Victoria to her 2007 $437 million glory days, what kind of state do we want to be? One that would so callously sacrifice our co-citizens’ long-term health for short-term gain? I say short term because someone will eventually have to pay for those employees’ medical care. And that “someone” always seems to be the taxpayers.

Ironically, the very same day the mayor came out in favor of casino smoking, the World Health Organization released a report citing second-hand smoke as the cause of 600,000 annual worldwide deaths. That’s like a city the size of Milwaukee being wiped off the map every year. (Of course, if it really was Milwaukee, that could be a persuasive argument to allow smoking anywhere.)

“But Jeff, if someone wants to be a hostess in a carcinogen-choked casino, that’s her right. If you don’t like second-hand smoke, don’t apply.” I hear ya. And that argument might actually hold water if not for the fact that our government tries to protect stupid people from themselves all the time. We make people wear seatbelts, we ban caffeine-laced alcoholic beverages and — my favorite — we warn folks not to use blow dryers in the bathtub.

Normally, when it comes to stupid people, I’m all for natural selection taking its course. But the majority of the second-hand-smoke-endangered casino jobs tend to befall a younger crowd who have no concept of their own mortality. The lure of reasonably well-paying, unskilled positions will always overwhelm those fleeting notions of slowly being strangled by lung cancer.

Personally, if it wouldn’t make it so appealing to chronically short-sighted high schoolers, I would ban smoking completely. Before you hit the “send” button, unless you’re willing to sign a waiver refusing all forms of health insurance and releasing your fellow citizens from ever having to pay a Medicare dime toward your inevitable demise, then don’t even think about lighting up. Until you assure me your habit won’t cost me a penny, I don’t want to hear a thing about your right to kill yourself at my expense.

The bottom line is, a great many of the 50,000 yearly U.S. second-hand smoke deaths are easily preventable. For once in their generally miserable and mismanaged lives, our state legislators took advantage of an opportunity to do better by their fellow citizens and banned smoking in public venues. Let’s not start unraveling that greater good by allowing folks to smoke at the Grand Victoria.

I do — and will continue to — hold Mayor Schock and all he’s accomplished in the highest regard. But this time, he’s dead wrong.