While there could be a lawmaker who brings the issue to the Legislature, there’s an uphill battle to getting it signed into law. Others point to the bottom line: smoking-friendly policies keep some of the highest-spending customers happy. Some business leaders, lobbyists and casino workers still see smoking as complementary to gambling.

Those mixed feelings mirror the state, he said. It’s really not overwhelming amongst our members,” Pappageorge said. While about 90 percent of its members don’t smoke, only 61 percent support a ban in casinos, according to member surveys taken in 2022.

Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer of Culinary Local 226, said Nevada’s casino workers appear more divided than the employee-led organization in New Jersey. Still, local industry members suggest there is a lack of support for a smoking ban in Nevada casinos, so locals and visitors shouldn’t expect a change anytime soon. But more changes have taken place in recent years with Park MGM becoming the first smoke-free casino on the Strip in 2020, and other casinos are developing smoke-free areas such as the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas. Meanwhile, similar legislative efforts are underway this year in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.Ī major push to ban smoking inside casinos in the largest gaming market outside of Las Vegas is a stark contrast to efforts in Nevada - where only a handful of casino operators have independently decided to offer patrons nonsmoking areas or casino floor over the past 30 years. Phil Murphy has vowed to sign the bill if passed by the Legislature. The group’s bill to ban smoking inside casinos has more than 24 co-sponsors, and another hearing before a state Assembly panel is scheduled Thursday. Vitola and her colleagues now lead an employee-run effort called Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects to close a loophole in New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act from 2006 that exempts casinos. “In my eyes, there was no way they’d bring back smoking,” Vitola said.īut the indoor smoking ban was lifted in July 2021. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit three years ago and smoking indoors was temporarily banned, she no longer saw large clouds of smoke but a casino filled with players. Table games dealer Nicole Vitola waited nearly 20 years to breathe easier while working at Borgata casino in Atlantic City. The smoke-free gaming area, right, will have its own entrance and be social-media friendly. A rendering of renovations at the Plaza hotel-casino.

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