Slot Machines Come Between Casinos and Taverns

The slot machines that you find in the casinos and in taverns, etc. are the same machines. The only difference is the number of slot machines that a place can offer, and the type of license that they have to have. Up until now, the casinos have held a friendly rivalry with the smaller venues in that they may have more slot machines than the little guys, but that was ok because they also didn’t have as much leeway.

That is all changing however, as the statewide smoking restrictions are now putting a wedge between the two types of slot machine owners. The bars look to the slot machines to truly be their largest source of revenue – as do the casinos. Everyone knows that the amount of slot machine revenue that comes in will eclipse the amount of table games at any casino. However, since they both run under a different set of rules to run those slot machines, there can be trouble.

Both slot machine establishments are aligned on taxation and regulation, but both have different political lobbying organizations to keep those interests safe. The casinos run their slot machines under non-restricted licenses, and the bars, etc. run theirs under restricted licenses. Basically that means that the bars cannot have more than 15 slot machines in one location.

However, with the new smoking ban, those differences became more prominent. The Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act says that there is to be no smoking inside, unless you are a casino, or a bar that does not serve food. The bars are now saying that if they can’t have smokers at their slot machines, than the casinos should not be able to either as they serve food as well. They say that the Act is discriminating against them as they are “similarly situated” businesses – they both own and operate slot machines.

They also think that the casinos want the ban so that people will go to the casinos to play their slot machines instead of coming to the bars because you can’t smoke there. The casino industry denies these claims.

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