Windsor — Nearly a month into Ontario’s smoking ban, Windsor bingo hall operators say many Michigan customers are staying home.

Business has dropped so much at some bingo parlours that owners are considering layoffs and at least one may close its doors, according to a report Monday in The Detroit News.

Source: The Globe and Mail. Link

EVERETT, Wash.—Less than a dozen cars speckled the parking lot outside the White Elephant Bar and Grill on a recent Saturday night in this growing Seattle suburb. Inside, most booths and tables sat empty while two electronic dart boards hung unused on the side wall. A handful of customers encircled the restaurant’s lone pool table, sipping beers and conversing easily at normal volume levels. Owners John and Donna Kerns leaned on the end of a deserted bar and watched helplessly as their once buzzing establishment choked to a slow death on its clean, smoke-free air.

Six months ago, that hub teemed with activity, drawing several thousand people on any given weekend. Now, business is down more than 50 percent. The Kernses, both in their 60s, have laid off employees and significantly trimmed their hours of operation.

Source: World Magazine. Link

Edmonton bingo halls and some bars say business has dropped by up to 50 per cent in the six months since the city imposed a no-smoking bylaw in all public places.

Since July 1, when the ban came into place, 19 bingo halls in the city have shut down. While some of the closures are attributed to waning interest in the game, operators say most were adversely affected by the smoking bylaw.

“Last month’s pool, with the cold weather, we lost $90,000 for that month,” Susan Moore, who runs Parkway Bingo, said.

Bingo operators say the payout to local charities and clubs has dropped by at least 50 per cent over the past six months, while crowds are down about 25 per cent.

Some bars are also facing a drop in revenue since July, they say.

“They’ve been brutal,” Wally Zack, owner of the Borderline Pub, said of the past six months. “Business dropped immediately by 30 to 40 per cent, and as much as 50 per cent when it got colder.”

Zack has placed an old school bus outside his bar to give smoking patrons a warm place to light up.

Source: CBCNews.ca. Link

The bingo parlor used to make up to $40,000 a month but now it’s in the red, Gibbens said. He said it’s hurting the organization’s disabled clients, who no longer get money for taxi rides.

Source: Grand Forks Herald. Link Expired.

South Town Bingo, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, closed down two weeks ago, after income began to decrease dramatically after smoking was banned from the town’s bars. Many players ceased visiting the bingo hall, and chose instead to drive to other neighboring towns without bans.

Source: Bingo.com Link

Last year’s bingo proceeds at the Association of Evergreen Youth in the Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta, reached $91,000. However, the non-profit organization’s bingo profits this year have only reached slightly over $30,000.

Many hands point an accusing finger at Edmonton’s smoking ban, which took effect on July 1st of this year. Although the law has removed the nicotine clouds that floated through the city’s bingo halls, it also lowered the financial standings of civic organizations and charities that use bingo in order to raise money.

In addition, the ban has apparently helped neighboring towns profit – bingo halls in Spruce Grove and Wetaskiwin, which do not have a smoking ban in effect, seem to be smokier than ever and, have in fact reported up to 40 percent increases in profits.

Source: Bingo.com. Link

The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce has released details of a new survey on the impact of the City smoking ban and it shows several business bars in particular are being badly hurt.

The survey polled restaurants, coffee shops, bars, lounges, bingo halls and the Casino . Of those, 93-percent of the bars and lounges contacted say they have suffered losses since the ban was imposed. Of those who say business is down, average losses reportedly averaged 43-percent.

All of them say they have laid off or reduced staff and they also say reduced sales have forced them to cut back on the business they do with their suppliers.

Bingo Halls, meantime, say their losses are at 30-percent or more and the Thunder Bay Casino is also reporting losses, although specific numbers were not made available. Restaurants appear to be affected the least with 74-percent reporting no change in business.

The smoking ban has apparently been good news for bars outside of the city not subject to the ban. The Chamber survey says operators near Thunder Bay are enjoying significant increases especially on weekends. The Casino at Grand Portage, where smoking is also still allowed, is also reporting an increase in its numbers.

Source: Thunder Bay’s Source. Link

For example, a survey by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association during the first month of the province’s ban that took effect Oct. 1, found New Brunswick’s smoking ban was having a negative impact on establishments with bars, pubs, taverns, legions and night clubs. In this survey, 71 percent of respondents reported sharp declines in liquor sales. In small businesses the effect was pronounced, with pubs, taverns and bars reporting that liquor sales fell almost 14 percent from the same time a year earlier. At legion clubs, the survey found, the decline was almost 19 percent.

Estimates range as high as 60 percent for the number of bingo players who smoke. Crary and Jim Newcomer, commander of VFW Post 1296 predict that once the smoking ban goes into effect, bingo will die as a source of charitable funds in Bloomington and player will migrate to the Indian casino at Mystic Lake. For the VFW, which rents the attached space next to its club for use as a bingo hall, that could mean as much as $182,000 in lost revenue.

What do losses like that mean to the community? Steve Enebo, a VFW trustee, and Patty Gustner, club manager for American Legion Post 550, rattled off a number of contributions to veterans organizations and to active service men and women and their families — everything from washers, dryers and television sets for the VA medical center to “care packages” for military personnel to Cub Foods certificates for military families to honor guards for funerals to a hospice suite at the VA medical center.

But then the self-righteous will be able to drink and dine without the annoyance of other people’s bad habits. What is value of an American flag on the coffin of a war veteran compared to a benefit like that?

Soruce: Pioneer Press. Link Expired.

Jackpot Bingo leases its parlor to a dozen different non-profit groups on a regular basis. Those groups rely on bingo revenue as a main fundraiser. However, since the smoking ban went into effect last April, attendance at the bingos has dropped by more than 50 percent.  The Tates Creek High School Marching Band stands to lose about $80,000 this year in bingo money.

“We’re trying to supplement this with raffle ticket sales and candy sales, but $80,000 is a large chunk of change,” says Assistant Band Director Andy Critz.

If the band can’t raise enough money to offset the loss, they may have to cancel some band trips or competitions.

Source: wtqv.com. Link Expired.

Lexington, KY - Jackpot Bingo leases its parlor to a dozen different non-profit groups on a regular basis. Those groups rely on bingo revenue as a main fundraiser. However, since the smoking ban went into effect last April, attendance at the bingos has dropped by more than 50 percent.
The Tates Creek High School Marching Band stands to lose about $80,000 this year in bingo money.

“We’re trying to supplement this with raffle ticket sales and candy sales, but $80,000 is a large chunk of change,” says Assistant Band Director Andy Critz.

If the band can’t raise enough money to offset the loss, they may have to cancel some band trips or competitions.

Source: WTQ. Link Expired.

“Some of the charities are hurting, significantly,” he said, adding, “we’re seeing a decrease in charity dollars in the vicinity of $35,000 to $40,000 a month.”

Source: Chatham Daily News. Link Expired.

Workers say profits are down 50 percent this month. On a Tuesday night in September 2002 about 143 people played at Bingo World in Greece. Only 79 showed up on the same night this year.

Source: Channel 13 News. Link Expired