Vegas Casinos to Ban Smoking?

by Bodog Casino | Oct 26 2009

It looks like smoking is no longer even cool for Vegas.

Go back to the 50s and it was generally accepted to chill out with a pack of cigarettes and puff away like a movie star. Fortunately, doctors figured out that lighting a dried plant on fire and inhaling its fumes is somehow not good for you or anyone in your vicinity.

Today, anti-smoking groups have done their best to prevent people from getting hooked; making horrific ads that Wes Craven would envy and doing their best to ban it in public places. But through it all the casino realm has remained generally untouched.

That is, until now. Kanie Kastroll, a dealer at the Wynn, is suing the Wynn Hotel and Casino to force them to protect its workers from second-hand smoke.

She said they are "aware of the health risks posed by exposure to second-hand smoke," but "has failed to adequately address the problem in the gaming area of its casino."

OK, if the Wynn is aware of the problem it should be no big deal for them to make significant changes in order to protect their dealers, right? According to Kastroll, they haven't done much.

She says the Wynn encourages its customers to smoke. Even giving free smokes to gamblers.

"If a customer asks a dealer 'do you mind if I smoke?" The Wynn prefers its dealers to answer 'no, not at all,' even if the tobacco smoke does in fact bother the dealer," according to the lawsuit. Kastroll says dealers who complain fear discipline or losing their jobs.

The only time they cater to you is if you're a dealer and you're pregnant, but only at the discretion of individual floor supervisors, the lawsuit says.

The odd thing is other casinos have stepped up their anti-smoking game. The Bellagio installed an air filtration system to reduce the amount of second-hand smoke on its casino floor. The Palazzo built "smoke-free corridors" and designed 50 percent of its casino floor as non-smoking.

For some reason the Wynn has neglected to do this, and Kastroll is looking for an order to require the hotel to "take reasonable measures to protect its employees from second-hand smoke."

Could this be the beginning of the end for smokers in Vegas? Although it's something to be concerned about, smoking players shouldn't worry. Vegas is about making money first, and forcing players to head out in front of Caesar's Palace to have a smoke between hands is not a way to make money. Expect to see more smoking and non-smoking areas in Vegas casinos in the future.