KOTA Territory NewsDeadwood casino owners oppose smoking ban

Deadwood casino owners oppose smoking ban

By Matt Hunter

Since the days of the ‘Old West,' casinos and saloons have been synonymous with smoking.

"People go out to have a good time and when they go into the bars and they don't smoke but people are smoking, it ruins their night," said Forest Sinsburi, a student at Black Hills State.

However, if House Bill 1240, which passed the House last week, gets Senate approval, smoking in all South Dakota public places, including Deadwood bars and casinos will be banned.

"I totally agree with the idea," Sinsburi said.

"The issue of health is pretty compelling from the medical community," District 31 Representative Fred Rompkema said. "I'm tending to favor that."

However not all lawmakers in Pierre are in favor of going smoke-free because research suggests it would cause an 18 to 30 percent drop in gambling revenue.

"We've got a huge budget deficit," District 31 Representative Chuck Turbiville said.  "If in the next year we lose another 10, 20 30-million dollars because of this, it's just going to be an additional burden."

"This is just another way of hurting business," said Craig Murdock, managing partner of Hickock's Casino.  "These businesses, in spite of what people think, aren't guaranteed.  We don't all make a ton of money and we provide a living for a lot of employees too."

Representative Turbiville added an amendment exempting Deadwood casinos from the ban but it was removed before it passed the House; more reason for casino owners to believe unwanted changes are coming.

"I like it here," Murdock said.  "I chose to come here when this opportunity came but it seems to get tougher and tougher every day. I just think it's going to be a tough go."

Still, if a recent American Heart Association poll that found 65 percent of likely South Dakota voters support a smoking ban is correct, most will be happy to see the air cleared.

"There's a lot of old and young people who like to gamble and not smell smoke when they do it," said Tyler Thiel of Belle Fourche.  "Second-hand smoke is very dangerous and it's a good idea to ban it."

Last Monday, the House passed the smoking ban 43 to 27.  It goes before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Monday.