Smoke-Free/Smoke Freely ... Your thoughts...
Poll
 | 2 votes (28.57%) | ||
| | 1 vote (14.28%) | ||
| No votes (0%) | |||
| | 1 vote (14.28%) | ||
| | 3 votes (42.85%) |
7 members have voted
September 25th, 2011 at 7:52:55 PM
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I decided to create a thread about an interesting campaign I saw on my excursion to Harrah's St Louis (blog). Please vote for how you feel the campaign is after reading some background information.
For those of you who have not been to Harrah's St Louis, the casino actually used to be two boats, when boarding times were dictated by two-hour increments. There were two casinos, the Island (I think it had another name) and the Mardi Gras. Along comes Harrah's buys both casinos, and operates them separately for some time, with one casino having buy-ins on the even hours, and one on the odd hours. This was a clever way to skirt the $500 max buy-in per two hours that had existed for years.
The cost of admissions got a bit high to operate both sides, so for efficiency, they created a walkway between the two casinos where the Poker Room initially went. The loss limits were still in effect at the time, but both casinos went to the even hour buy-in schedule. For a while, they maintained the independent themes of each casino, but over time, they consolidated the Island casino into iBar, and the Mardi Gras ended up getting the majority of the table games. The loss limits disappeared in 2008, so the move seemed advantageous on their part.
(Sorry for the long introduction, but it's kind of important to what I'm getting at)...
So when I was there on Saturday, I noticed the old Island side had basically been "split down the middle." This actually works since there's a very large bar in the middle. On one side, there are signs that say "SMOKE-FREE" and that entire side is smoke-free (including where the Poker room is now). The other side, signs say "SMOKE FREELY!" This side is very clever.
My question (I'll post my opinion in a minute): Will this campaign work if it were to be implemented in other casinos? Understanding that not all casinos will be divided down the middle, but will customers respond to that? They actually had a survey although it was down at the time, so I'm assuming this is what they want to know.
For those of you who have not been to Harrah's St Louis, the casino actually used to be two boats, when boarding times were dictated by two-hour increments. There were two casinos, the Island (I think it had another name) and the Mardi Gras. Along comes Harrah's buys both casinos, and operates them separately for some time, with one casino having buy-ins on the even hours, and one on the odd hours. This was a clever way to skirt the $500 max buy-in per two hours that had existed for years.
The cost of admissions got a bit high to operate both sides, so for efficiency, they created a walkway between the two casinos where the Poker Room initially went. The loss limits were still in effect at the time, but both casinos went to the even hour buy-in schedule. For a while, they maintained the independent themes of each casino, but over time, they consolidated the Island casino into iBar, and the Mardi Gras ended up getting the majority of the table games. The loss limits disappeared in 2008, so the move seemed advantageous on their part.
(Sorry for the long introduction, but it's kind of important to what I'm getting at)...
So when I was there on Saturday, I noticed the old Island side had basically been "split down the middle." This actually works since there's a very large bar in the middle. On one side, there are signs that say "SMOKE-FREE" and that entire side is smoke-free (including where the Poker room is now). The other side, signs say "SMOKE FREELY!" This side is very clever.
My question (I'll post my opinion in a minute): Will this campaign work if it were to be implemented in other casinos? Understanding that not all casinos will be divided down the middle, but will customers respond to that? They actually had a survey although it was down at the time, so I'm assuming this is what they want to know.
"One out of every four people are [morons]"- Kyle, South Park
September 25th, 2011 at 7:58:20 PM
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My opinion on the issue...
I think the campaign is great. I kind of chuckled at it, when I got to thinking about people just going crazy smoking on the one side. It certainly would be competitive with Illinois casinos, where all casinos are non-smoking. There are smoking areas, but they must be positioned at least 15 feet away from the main areas. (I'll come back to the trip to Metropolis in a second)...
My question is why didn't they just create the whole Island casino as non-smoking. The old Mardi Gras could be smoking, and the Island could be non-smoking. I realize the poker players would have to travel a ways to smoke, but they could create a special room for them near the poker room. Ameristar has dedicated non-smoking areas, including a pit of table games and an entire slot machine area. It seemed like a lot of people were up there when I was there.
Back to Metropolis for just a minute... as I was driving there, I saw a sign for Casino Aztar in Evansville, IN. The picture had a very beautiful woman smoking a big honking cigar. This was obviously a ploy to get gamblers to come there because of the smoking. Considering the casino was near dead on a Saturday evening, I wonder if that plays into how gamblers gamble... just a thought on the issue.
I think the campaign is great. I kind of chuckled at it, when I got to thinking about people just going crazy smoking on the one side. It certainly would be competitive with Illinois casinos, where all casinos are non-smoking. There are smoking areas, but they must be positioned at least 15 feet away from the main areas. (I'll come back to the trip to Metropolis in a second)...
My question is why didn't they just create the whole Island casino as non-smoking. The old Mardi Gras could be smoking, and the Island could be non-smoking. I realize the poker players would have to travel a ways to smoke, but they could create a special room for them near the poker room. Ameristar has dedicated non-smoking areas, including a pit of table games and an entire slot machine area. It seemed like a lot of people were up there when I was there.
Back to Metropolis for just a minute... as I was driving there, I saw a sign for Casino Aztar in Evansville, IN. The picture had a very beautiful woman smoking a big honking cigar. This was obviously a ploy to get gamblers to come there because of the smoking. Considering the casino was near dead on a Saturday evening, I wonder if that plays into how gamblers gamble... just a thought on the issue.
"One out of every four people are [morons]"- Kyle, South Park
September 25th, 2011 at 9:12:34 PM
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The best solution is to install adequate air movement
filtration. A casino in my area that opened in 2009,
has a round brass 4" plate in the floor every 18" in
every direction. It looks just like a drain you see on
restroom floors, but its a vent. In the summer, cool
air is constantly forced upwards thru thousands of
these vents, and sucked back into the system by
vents in the ceiling. In the winter its warm air. The
guy sitting next to you could be smoking and unless he
was blowing the smoke right in your face, you'd never
smell it.
filtration. A casino in my area that opened in 2009,
has a round brass 4" plate in the floor every 18" in
every direction. It looks just like a drain you see on
restroom floors, but its a vent. In the summer, cool
air is constantly forced upwards thru thousands of
these vents, and sucked back into the system by
vents in the ceiling. In the winter its warm air. The
guy sitting next to you could be smoking and unless he
was blowing the smoke right in your face, you'd never
smell it.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
September 25th, 2011 at 9:23:55 PM
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Back before Ontario Casinos went completely smoke-free, Casino Niagara had a smoking floor (the 3rd) and a non-smoking floor (the 2nd). Casino Windsor (before it became Caesars) also had a smoke free slots area in the upstairs area.
Mohegan Sun has a (small) non-smoking section (slots only).
Seneca Niagara has a non-smoking section (I think there are only slots but there might be a few table games).
My preference is that casinos are smoke free.
Mohegan Sun has a (small) non-smoking section (slots only).
Seneca Niagara has a non-smoking section (I think there are only slots but there might be a few table games).
My preference is that casinos are smoke free.
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You want the truth! You can't handle the truth!
September 26th, 2011 at 1:37:05 AM
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not allowing smoking in casinos is one of the worse things you can do for their bottomline. people that enjoy one vice typically enjoy another. smoking, drinking, and gambling all go hand in hand for some people. if theyre susceptible to one addiction (smoking), theyre likely to be susceptible to another addiction (gambling). i do not want to dissuade these players in any way from coming to the casino or to stop them while playing to get their other fix by doing something ridiculous like banning smoking. when the casino's bottomline is hurt, the stingier they become in their offers, promotions, paytables, game rules, rake etc. you may not like smokers while gaming but deal with it because they are helping you get better games.
