A Native American casino in northwest Iowa is now offering a “non-smoking” gaming room. Travis Morgan is a spokesman for the WinnaVegas Casino in Sloan.
A state law that went into in 2008 bans smoking in public places, but Iowa’s casino industry got an exemption that has allowed smoking to continue on the gaming floors. Officials with the state-licensed casinos say banning smoking would put them at a competitive disadvantage and they have opposed efforts in the legislature to start enforcing the smoking ban inside the casinos. The Native American casinos in Tama, Onawa and Sloan are not state licensed. The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska operates the casino in Sloan.
Morgan says many customers consider the smoky casino floors to be a “downside” to their gambling experience.
