Casino news source: Miami Herald - http://www.miamiherald.com
Smoke to clear at last in old Seminole Casino card room
The last poker room that allowed players to light up at tables has finally succumbed to the smoke-free era.
BY TODD WRIGHT
twright@MiamiHerald.com
The atmosphere is tense, the air thick and suffocating for the dozen poker players hunkered down with their cards at the old Seminole Casino near Hollywood.
''You can hardly breathe in here for all the smoke. I might as well be smoking a cigarette myself,'' said John Norton, 25, now holding his nose under his shirt. ``It's hard enough playing the other players, but you got to battle the smoke, too.''
For nearly 30 years -- long before the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino opened nearby -- the Seminole Casino on State Road 7 south of Stirling Road has been a haven for slot machines, poker players -- and smokers. Its 29-table card area has been the poker smoker's last stand, but on Monday, the no-smoking signs go up and the ashtrays disappear.
The move comes as casinos and poker rooms throughout the nation have begun making the switch from nicotine-filled gambling halls to clean-air facilities.
The smoking ban is more symbol than substance at the Seminole. Smoking will still be allowed everywhere else in the casino, and the poker players are separated only by a guardrail.
Still, many players are upset.
''Where am I going to play now?'' asked Judy Marsh, who has been coming to the casino for a decade. She pulls out a slim cigarette even as she's finishing up another -- her third in five hands.
''I'm not going to keep getting up. I'll just stay home,'' she tells the dealer.
In most states with public smoking bans, casinos are exempt from such rules because it has long been considered a part of gambling, said Lois Rice, executive director of the Colorado Gaming Association.
But the link between smoking and gambling is slowly fading.
Restaurants with pricey menus are as common as nickel slot machines, and such establishments frown on smoking, Rice said.
Even the Hard Rock, the Seminole's new flagship, doesn't allow smoking in its poker room.
OLD-SCHOOL WANES
''I think that old-school, smoking aspect of gambling is disappearing,'' said Rice, whose job recently has been to help the 45 Colorado casinos prepare for a smoking ban that will take effect in July 2008. ``I would venture to guess that in two years, most of the gaming venues will be smoke-free. It has become an important health issue in the country.''
As pressures mount from nonsmoking gamblers and health advocacy groups, elected officials also are pushing for smoking bans to include casinos. That's already happened in states such as Colorado, Iowa, New Jersey and Florida, but the law does not apply to the Seminoles, considered a sovereign nation.
But after 28 years of smoke-filled poker, the tribe decided in February it was time for a change, said Gary Bitner, the Seminoles' spokesman.
With the recent opening of no-smoking casinos in Hallandale Beach and Dania Beach, local players have far more clean-air options. The Seminoles had to choose between their niche market -- smokers -- or the new generation of poker players who don't smoke.
''The goal is to create a comfortable environment for all poker players,'' Bitner said.
While the ability to smoke has been a driving force in attracting gamblers to the old-fashioned poker room at the casino, it has been equally effective at driving people away.
For newcomers walking through the dark-tinted sliding doors of the casino, the thick fog hits hard and swift.
Eyes water as they make their way through the plumes of smoke to the green felt.
Some gag almost on contact, like Vontrese Fedrick did her first time in the poker room. She lasted about an hour before calling it quits and vowing never to come back.
COPING MECHANISMS
Others have come up with creative ways to cope with the smoke. Most use their sleeves or shirts to cover their mouth and nose. One woman brought a scented candle and repeatedly sniffed it as she played.
The occasional gas mask has even been brought into play.
But in the end, it's all about the game, said a coughing Norton. He jokes with the player next to him, who has been blowing smoke in his direction for an hour.
''It doesn't bother me too much. I've gotten used to it,'' he said, before reminding the man of the imminent ban.
``It's almost that time, and it's about time.'' |
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