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Updated: 11:19 PM Sep 9, 2008
Declining Video Lottery Sales Linked to Smoking Ban
Video lottery machines are open around the clock, but some gambling parlor owners say the machines are staying cold in Kanawha County.
Posted: 10:50 PM Sep 9, 2008Reporter: Will Jones Email Address: Will.Jones@wsaz.com |
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17 Comments 
KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Video lottery machines are open around the clock, but some gambling parlor owners say the machines are staying cold in Kanawha County.
They claim the extended smoking ban is to blame for their declining sales.
Nancy Bulla from the West Virginia Lottery examined sales since the smoking ban went into effect.
"We have seen a dip but its not statewide and quite frankly it cannot be determined whether it's the smoking ban or whether it's the economy general," she said.
However, bar and gambling parlor owners say the smoking ban is killing their business.
To determine if there is a link between the smoking ban and declining video lottery sales, we crunched the numbers of five random video lottery parlors in the county.
When you compare their revenue from June to July, when the smoking ban went into effect, Kelly's Hot Spot in South Charleston lost nearly $4,000.
Bar 101’s revenue dipped by nearly $1,700.
Mimi's in Nitro lost almost $19,000 in a month's time, but that’s not the same story for Sam's Uptown Café, the books show a $650 boost to business, and the Sports Pub in Marmet a $350 increase.
No matter what the numbers are, officials warn it’s too early to draw any conclusions.
"Two months is hardly two years, ask me in two years when the economy doesn’t have a problem," Bulla says.
The West Virginia lottery says video lottery establishments in other counties with a smoking ban have also complained about a decline in sales, but there are some counties where the lottery has seen little or no change with the smoking ban.
Latest Comments
how did kelly's hot spot loose $4000 revenue because of the smoking ban and then get sited for smoking??
Duh, what did they expect would happen? Non-smokers are a minority in the gambling venues. It's only going to get worse.
I don't understand why we are in war and helping another country to be free. We do not live in a free country any longer. They are trying to control our every move. If they would ban ALCOHOL we wouldn't have to worry about so many drunk drivers now would we . But the same people banning smoking as drinkers so they don't want to ban that .
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