Bingo and casino operator Rank Group is enjoying a “positive start to the year” as punters flock to its casinos. Like-for-like group sales in the last four months rose 4pc, driven by online sales and its Grosevnor Casinos division, where longer opening hours saw the number of customer visits increase by 7pc. Rank has rebranded many of its casinos as “G Casinos” to appeal to those who want a night out as well as a bet and plans to open 20 of the venues by the end of 2012. Rank said its G Casinos attract “significantly higher levels of customer visits”. The c ... Jump to full article >>

ANTI-SMOKING groups have called on the State Government to stand up to gambling lobbyists and ban smoking in Star City casino’s seven high-roller rooms. They say the NSW Health Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, should not let Labor’s close ties with pubs and clubs – which have donated about $3.7 million to the party since the 2007 election – dictate public health policy. The NSW Health Minister has granted year-long exemptions to Star City every year since 2004. Campaigners are fed up with the excuse that Star City will lose high-stakes international gamblers to the other state ... Jump to full article >>

Do Michigan lawmakers really want to take a position that it is OK to kill casino workers as long as there are some jobs saved in the process? Apparently so. Both the Senate and the House broke though a long stalemate yesterday to approve a bill that would ban smoking in bars and restaurants. The governor was expected to sign it. But there is a catch. The ban comes with exemptions for casinos. Apparently that was the only way to reach a compromise between Democrats, who generally want the ban but don’t want to hurt casino business, and Republicans, some of whom may have been playing poli ... Jump to full article >>

Gamblers play in the smoking areas of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in November 2008 in Atlantic City. Councilman Dennis Mason announced Wednesday that City Council will not consider a full smoking ban in casinos for at least two years. ATLANTIC CITY — Casino workers hoping to see a full ban on smoking in their work place will have to wait another two years just to debate issue with the city. Councilman Dennis Mason announced Wednesday that the city will not continue discussions about outlawing smoking in local gaming halls until the end of 2011, a decision made in private after a coun ... Jump to full article >>

When Montana’s smoking ban went into full effect Oct. 1, it hit some businesses hard and left others virtually unscathed. In general, establishments that catered specifically to the gambling crowd suffered most. “Some little bars did well, but some, absolutely no one’s coming in,” said Steve Arntzen, chief operating officer for Century Gaming. The Billings-based business accounts for 25 percent of the video gaming machines in Montana. “Where gaming is secondary, those places haven’t been impacted nearly as much.” [caption id="attachment_3698" align="alignleft" width="300" caption ... Jump to full article >>

Paul Kieselhorst, of Maplewood, enjoys a cigarette at Tiffanys Diner, the day after the smoking ban passed. “It should be left up to the business owner and the customer,” Kieselhorst said. “I’m opposed to that kind of government intervention.” The lopsided vote on Tuesday to prohibit smoking in most public places in St. Louis County could spell a quick reversal of the ban’s exemption for casino gambling floors, a member of the County Council said Wednesday. About two-thirds of county voters favored the ban, which will take effect on Jan. 2, 2011. A city ban, ... Jump to full article >>

ATLANTIC CITY – The city official who was among the most vocal supporters of a resort-wide smoking ban now wants it off the table. Calling it a restriction is really more accurate. No matter what local lawmakers decide, certain casino lounges likely could continue to allow smoking, Councilman Bruce Ward said Wednesday. “Smoking is outlawed in every workplace in New Jersey except casinos,” he said. City Council likely will vote next week on exactly how to limit lighting up on casino floors, according to Councilman Dennis Mason. Local laws prohibited smoking at gaming halls for ... Jump to full article >>

Shamefully, Atlantic City council members and state legislators continue to expose dealers and other casino employees to serious health risks by refusing to ban smoking on casino floors. The legislature, after allowing casinos to escape the statewide indoor smoking ban in 2006, has refused to close this loophole. Lawmakers continually have chosen casino balance sheets over the health of the average Joe. But this is a moral, not economic issue: What amount of money makes it acceptable to put people’s lives at risk? We know the answer: None. And that’s why there’s a tobacco stain on New J ... Jump to full article >>

ATLANTIC CITY – Smoke swirled around Barbara DePierro’s head as she used one hand to puff on a cigarette and the other to play a slot machine at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. DePierro, a New Yorker, settles into her cigarettes-and-slots routine whenever she comes to Atlantic City and dreads the thought that her gambling pleasures may someday be interrupted by a casino smoking ban. “I like it the way it is now. If they banned smoking in Atlantic City, I would go to the Indian reservation casinos in Connecticut just to smoke,” DePierro vowed as her husband, James, nodde ... Jump to full article >>

As a cardiologist and regional president of the American Heart Association in New Jersey, I remain gravely concerned about our state’s safeguards against exposure to second-hand smoke, specifically as this unresolved public health issue lingers in Atlantic City casinos. The link between second-hand smoke and cardiovascular disease is indisputable. According to the American Heart Association, an estimated 35,000 heart disease deaths annually are associated with environmental tobacco smoke. The New Jersey Smoke Free Air Act enacted in April 2006 was a historic act of public health to prote ... Jump to full article >>

Looking to avoid a legal fight to force a smoking ban in Oregon’s nine tribal casinos, the American Lung Association of Oregon has withdrawn its demand that Gov. Ted Kulongoski impose such a prohibition and has fired the lawyer behind its now-abandoned strategy. The course reversal comes two weeks after the association’s Portland lawyer, John DiLorenzo, sent a letter on the association’s behalf calling on the governor to extend to the casinos a statewide smoking ban in place since January for non-tribal bars and taverns. Despite the American Lung Association of Oregon’s move, a spokesw ... Jump to full article >>