Opinion: N.J. non-smoking casino worth paying attention to
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the March 28, 2012, Reno Gazette-Journal.
When the $2.4 billion Revel casino resort opens in Atlantic City on Monday, it will include a spa, 14 restaurants, 10 pools and a theater that seats 5,050 people.
Nevada casinos have spas, restaurants, pools and theaters, of course, many of them just as nice as those in the Revel.
But Revel will have one feature that no major Nevada casino can match: It will be totally nonsmoking, the first in New Jersey and one of the few anywhere in the U.S.
There’s no doubt that it’s a gamble for a resort that a couple of years ago appeared unlikely to be completed. (It took state tax incentives to get the job finished.) The few times Nevada casinos have experimented with a no-smoking policy, they’ve failed, and casino owners here have long argued that gambling and smoking are inseparable.
If Revel is successful, however, it could mark the beginning of a welcome revolution in gaming. Nevada casino owners should watch it closely.
Yeah. And if it DOESN’T go over big, that’s the first thing they’ll change. Way easier to switch from non-smoking to smoking. Not really much of a gamble. Expecially with government incentives.
The New Jersey casino’s hated ” gov’t incentives” were provided by blowhard bully/punk teabag favorite Chris Christie. He rightfully decided that finishing the project with the people’s funds would be better than a “hole in the ground”.
The casinos on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls have been non-smoking for years. They do not even provide a very hospitable smoking area outside. The casinos are clean and pleasant and still seem to be busy.
I can’t wait for NV to follow the smoke-free casino trend. I have been to smoke-free casinos and it’s amazing to me that not one person threw a fit to have to smoke outside.
I heard smokers die 14 years sooner anyway so it makes sense to want to keep your customers alive. Can’t make any money once they’re dead!
Interesting how Tea Bag Christie has no problem publicly funding private sector in his state but blows hard on the White House for providing any incentives.
Current GOP = Old Boys Club Hippocrits
I can’t wait to be the first to smoke in that casino.
There was a casino in Reno that tried to go non-smoking many years ago (I don’t remember the name). They were just ahead of their time. Didn’t work then. Will probably work very well now.