DETROIT (AP) -- The organizers of some of Michigan's charity gaming events say they're feeling a financial pinch because the state's smoking ban is driving gamblers who are also smokers away from bingo parlors and charity card games.
Gaming is a big moneymaker for Michigan's nonprofits, pouring tens of millions of dollars into good causes -- from Little League teams to marching bands to Lions Clubs -- and far outpacing traditional fundraising.
But the Detroit Free Press recently reported that statewide charity gaming revenue for the third quarter of 2010 was $45.5 million, down about 25 percent from the $61.8 million collected during the same quarter in 2009, according to figures from the Michigan Lottery.
Some charity gaming organizers blame the state's ban on smoking in most public places, which took effect May 1.
"Gamblers are smokers. A lot of people just stay away," said Joe Puertas, an Oakland County businessman who has poker rooms in four bars he owns.
Duane Owens of FL.com, a company that manages poker rooms, said Michigan's smoking ban is "killing bars and restaurants."
"The revenue from poker is determined by how many people you get in your establishment. Less people means less players and less revenue," he said.
Advocates of the state's ban, including state Sen. Ray Basham, D-Taylor, contend that it's unfair to blame it for the decline in charity gaming.
"I would say to them, 'What are you doing to market to nonsmokers?'" said Basham, who pushed for years to get Michigan to adopt the ban. "The job of the Legislature is to protect public health, not to create a business plan for establishments that don't have a business plan."
Basham said smart businesses are reaching out to customers to tell them they are smoke-free now, which can attract new clients.
Smokers who have continued gambling at charity-run events complain that it's inconvenient for them to have to step outside whenever they want to get a smoke.
George Saroki, 63, a smoker from Commerce Township who plays poker at the Shark Club in Waterford, said his trips away from the poker room to have a cigarette can take five minutes, causing him to miss several hands and possibly his seat at the table.
"The law sucks," he said. "They took away our freedom."
Shark Club owner Joe Puertas acknowledged that as a nonsmoker, he doesn't miss the smoke. But he said it has hurt his business.
"In the summertime, it wasn't so bad, but now that it's going to be 5, 10 below, it's going to be more of an issue," he said.
Puertas said he thought of adding a room to his bar just for smoking and not allowing employees in there, so it wouldn't be considered part of the workplace, but he won't. If he's going to add space, he wants to use it to serve food and drinks.
Such a smoking room would be possible under a bill in the Legislature sponsored by state Rep. Douglas Geiss, D-Taylor, who said his measure would allow for a "legal smoking room."
Employees couldn't wait on customers there, and it would have to have its own ventilation and be aired out before staff entered to clean up.
"If you're not having employees in there, the arguments for the smoking ban are nullified," Geiss said.
With a good location just off M-59 in Utica, Snooker's has become the most lucrative charity poker room in Michigan, said Don Wawrzyniak, who runs the room.
Wawrzyniak said players never were allowed to smoke at the card tables and had to be a few steps away to light up anyway. Since the ban, they now walk about 50 feet to the front door, where they can smoke on the sidewalk out front.
"We've got more families coming in now," he said. "So far this year, we've raised $1.2 million for charity."
Published: Wed, Dec 1, 2010
