Rivers Casino Portsmouth’s opening certainly hasn’t gone as parent companionship Benjamin Rush Street Gaming had planned. After receiving a heap of backlash for allowing indoor smoking across the 90,000-square-foot gaming floor, Rivers Pompey has proclaimed unexampled indoor smoking policies.
Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened on January 23. The grand opening festivities for Virginia’s first off lasting casino were apace tarred by an abundance of electronegative feedback from patrons who found the smell of cigarettes a turnoff.
In response, Rivers proclaimed it will no more yearner appropriate smoking anyplace on the casino floor. The casino at present has designated smoking and nonsmoking sections.
In response to feedback from guests and the community, in effect(p) immediately, Rivers Casino Portsmouth has modified our smoking policy,” a financial statement from the gambling casino explained. “Approximately half of the gaming trading floor will now live designated as nonsmoking, including both slots and table games.”
Rivers Casino went on to explain that smoking is, and has ever been, prohibited indoors everyplace away of the gaming floor. As such, the cassino says 80% of the complex is smoke-free.
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— Rivers Casino Portsmouth (@RiversCasinoVA) January 30, 2023
Nonsmokers Still Not Pleased
Rivers’ unexampled smoking policy takes a pageboy out of the regulatory arranging inward New island of Jersey and Pennsylvania where indoor gambling casino smoking is also allowed. In those II states, casinos are permitted to denominate sure areas of their gaming floors for smoking.
Virginia’s plum indoor broadcast law of nature exemption afforded to casinos, pari-mutuel racinos, and off-track betting (OTB) parlors, allows those businesses to countenance smoking anyplace inside. But Rivers Portsmouth is now requiring that smokers only if visible light upward inwards certain gaming zones.
Antismoking advocates say not enough.
“Smoke is unregenerate — it doesn’t abide by a ratify and stay put inwards unity area. This is a weak elbow grease to name and address the public outcry that has defined the opening calendar week of Rivers Casino Portsmouth,” opined the advocacy Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR). ANR is leading an travail in Atlantic City to get rid of indoor smoking sections from the 9 casinos there.
The only if solution is to acquire disembarrass of indoor smoking — relocation it outside. Otherwise, cassino workers and guests testament bear on to take a breath life-threatening secondhand smoke. Rivers has the force to urinate this conclusion right away and draw guests who require to savour everything their gambling casino has to offer,” ANR concluded.
“Having a smoking section is like having a piss discussion section inwards a pool,” Smokefree Casinos, a externalize of the ANR Foundation, added on Twitter.
Others Praise Rivers
Though ANR might non consider the smoking alter is adequate, other Rivers Casino Pompey guests said it’s at to the lowest degree a start.
People wheel spoke and Rivers Portsmouth listened. Great job,” commented 1 user on Twitter inward response to the Rivers share.
“This should assist a lot,” added another. “Way to go game Portsmouth!” scan another response.
Several others questioned wherefore vapes and cigars are prohibited but cigarettes are allowed.
“Cigarettes are allowed but non cigars or vapes. Makes no more sense,” said a Rivers Portsmouth Twitter follower. “Stupid.”
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