In South Florida, the Seminole Hard Rock near Hollywood has moved to confine smoking largely to just the casino floor.
The Miami Herald reports, the Seminole Hard Rock began posting signs last month declaring certain area of the casino/resort as non-smoking. They include several walkways, elevator banks, restrooms and a spot in the high-roller slots room. The Beach Club Café (excepting the bar area) is also now non-smoking.
Florida’s Clean Indoor Air Act requires casinos, state horse tracks, dog tracks and jai-alai frontons to be non-smoking. However, Native American casinos in Florida and all other states remain protected by sovereign immunity and can allow smoking.
The newspaper notes that Native American run casinos maintain a competitive advantage, because many regular casino patrons want to be able to light up. Atlantic City casinos suffered a 15 percent drop in business when New Jersey enacted its own non-smoking laws in 2008. The casino operators quickly lobbied and received an exception.
More on smoking in casinos in the print edition of Gaming Today next week and online at gamingtoday.com.