A House-Senate conference committee was expected to meet this week to work out a compromise on a statewide smoking ban, but the meeting has been postponed again. The debate has already stretched for an entire year. Tuesday’s meeting was originally scheduled for April 1. It was postponed when some members of the committee said they needed more time to draft amendments to the legislation.

Black Hawk, Colorado -- The haze has yet to clear on whether a 3-month-old smoking ban is responsible for declining fortunes at the casinos in Colorado's three gaming towns. Since the state extended an indoor smoking ban to its 40 casinos on Jan. 1, the gambling industry has reported a drop in business here and in the other gaming towns of Central City and Cripple Creek. But casino-goers and operators alike point to a variety of additional reasons for the downturn.

Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) -- For Bob Phelan, having a cigarette while gambling in an Atlantic City casino approaches a religious ritual. "I come here to gamble, have a drink and a smoke," he said. "It's the holy trinity." But people like casino dealer Adrien Huggins find working amid swirling cigarette smoke can be hellish. "It's hard to breathe," said the 21-year dealer at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. "It burns your eyes, your nostrils. I get sick a lot."

The nine-member Atlantic City Council is expected to take up a controversial measure later today that will prohibit smoking in all the casino floors here for the first time in the seaside resort’s 30-year history of gambling. Four council members are co-sponsors of the measure, and only one more member is needed for passage. The call for a full smoking ban arrives on the eve of the first anniversary of the partial smoking ban that took effect April 15, 2007.

People in Iowa bars would be prohibited from smoking but gamblers on casino floors could keep puffing under a proposed statewide tobacco ban compromise that a legislative panel reached Monday. The decision could end weeks of disagreement among lawmakers about how far a smoking ban should go. House members could vote as early as today on the compromise, which prohibits smoking in the majority of public places in Iowa.

Atlantic City - Year two, round two. City Council will again attempt to outlaw smoking in city gaming halls at next week's meeting as last year's partial ban approaches its first anniversary. "It was somewhat self-executing in that the one-year anniversary is almost here and little has been done to comply with the partial ban," Councilman Bruce Ward said Friday. Ward co-sponsored a proposed full ban in February 2007 before officials amended the ordinance in the face of intense opposition from top officials from the resort's 11 casinos.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says in a legal opinion that the state can expand its smoking ban to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos. In 2003, lawmakers banned smoking in bars and restaurants, but not in private clubs or the casinos. The state Supreme Court last year upheld that ban despite protests from bar and restaurant owners who claimed it is unconstitutional and hurts their businesses.

The air in Colorado's casinos cleared in the first month of a smoking ban, with the levels of harmful air-pollution particles dropping 92 percent, according to a new state report. "It's what we've seen in other states — pretty dramatic results once the smoke-free laws pass," said Jodi Kopke, a spokeswoman for the state health department's Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership.

The smoking ban in public places, effective since the 2nd January of this year in casinos, caused “an annual downward trend of 14% in the gross gaming revenue.” This was pointed out in a statement issued by the Casinos de France union last week. The professional organization added that “an investigation carried out in the gambling establishments which are members of Casinos de France showed a fall in entries and a sensible decrease in the time spent by the clientele inside the casinos.”

Plans for an open air gambling area at Sydney's Star City Casino have sparked criticism from anti-smoking groups who want the New South Wales Government to ban smoking and gambling at the same time. In response to smoking restrictions introduced last July, the casino lodged a development application with the City of Sydney to convert one of its restaurants into an "open space" gambling lounge.

A cut in the number of permitted GBP 500 jackpot machines coupled with the smoking ban have dealt Rank a double whammy, sending shares in the bingo and casino group plunging and threatening its dividend. In a shock profits warning, Rank said its Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos businesses had "experienced a significant deterioration in revenue in recent weeks". Rank warned that should such disappointing trading continue "group operating profit would be significantly lower" than 2006's GBP 77.4m.

Atlantic City, New Jersey - Seven and 11 are lucky numbers at any casino, but for smokers in Atlantic City, it soon will be seven the hard way. In order to comply with restrictions on smoking passed by Atlantic City officials earlier this year, 7 of the city's 11 casinos plan to go totally smoke-free on the gambling floor. They'll do it by creating smoking lounges where gambling will not be offered.