Margaritaville Resort Casino , Bossier City , Louisiana
Snoqualmie Casino , outside of Seattle , Washington
The Interstate 5 Corridor in Washington
Uneven playing fields can also be found in markets that are not under statemandated restrictions and where individual operators determine their own policies . One market that illustrates a more nuanced approach to smoking restrictions are the casinos that serve the greater Seattle / Tacoma ( SeaTac ) gaming market , clustered on or near Interstate 5 .
Eleven casinos are located along the I-5 corridor , from Arlington to the north to Rochester to the south . An additional four casinos are located on the southern portion of the Olympic Peninsula and also serve portions of the SeaTac region . Each casino adopted its own unique policy towards smoking .
In May 2020 , Angel of the Winds Casino Resort , 47 miles north of Seattle , announced that upon reopening , their property would permanently prohibit smoking . In so doing , it became the first casino to permanently ban smoking since the Ho Chunk Casino in Madison , Wisconsin did so in 2015 .
Shortly after Angel of the Winds ’ announcement , the Tulalip Tribe , operator of the Tulalip Resort Casino , Quil Ceda Creek Casino and Tulalip Bingo and Slots , adopted a similar policy for its three casinos to the west of I-5 , 10 miles south of Angel of the Winds and 37 miles north of Seattle . Leadership at Tulalip had long used market research and analytics to drive their business decisions .
That research led them to the decision to ban smoking . Although the tribe has yet to codify that policy as permanent , four years on , the tribe continues to operate its three casinos as 100 percent smoke-free .
The Snoqualmie Casino , a property that enjoys a location 26 miles east of downtown Seattle and is the closest casino to that market , took a completely different approach . After reopening in 2020 , management designated 50 percent of its gaming floor as non-smoking . Over time , that allocation was reduced to where today 1,640 electronic gaming devices ( EGDs ) on the main gaming floor are located in areas that permit smoking .
A separate , glass-enclosed room provides 60 machines in a smoke-free environment , although patrons must navigate across the main gaming floor to access those devices . Patrons are not permitted to smoke while playing table games on the main gaming floor .
The Muckleshoot Casino Resort is located in Auburn , approximately 28 miles south of Snoqualmie , and 15 miles northeast of Tacoma . With over 3,500 EGDs , 70 table games and 400 hotel rooms , it is one of the largest casino resorts in the Pacific Northwest . Its approach to smoking differs from properties to the north .
Approximately 50 percent of its electronic gaming devices are located in large , well-ventilated rooms that are 100 percent non-smoking . While not fully partitioned from smoking areas , its air handling systems do an adequate job of keeping the smell of smoke from permeating non-smoking areas . Management also maintains a policy that prohibits smoking at table games , even those that are located in smoking zones .
Muckleshoot Bingo , a locals-oriented property located nearby , also offers separate smoking and non-smoking rooms with EGDs and a main bingo floor designated as non-smoking .
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