Another delay in Cripple Creek casino smoking cases

CRIPPLE CREEK - Three Cripple Creek casinos ticketed for allowing smoking faced a judge for the first time Thursday in Teller County Court. The attorney for Midnight Rose manager Donald Rosen entered a plea of not guilty and the case will go to trial Sept. 11. The other two casinos, the Double Eagle and Bronco Billy's, asked for pretrial conferences, which were set for late July.

A fourth casino, the Gold Rush, allowed smoking beginning July 11, and was ticketed by Cripple Creek police on July 12. It suddenly stopped allowing smoking on Tuesday. Gold Rush general manager Mike Hirsch said Monday the casino's initial court date was set for Sept. 29. The Double Eagle also stopped allowing smoking after being ticketed, while the Midnight Rose and Bronco Billy's continue to allow smoking in part of their casinos.

All four casinos that have allowed smoking assert that they meet the cigar-bar exemption from the statewide smoking ban. Bronco Billy's co-general manager Mike Chaput said whether the casinos meet the exemption will be the court's decision.

"It's a legal matter now, and we have to be silent about it," Chaput said.

Cripple Creek Mayor Dan Baader said it's good that the process is moving forward.

"That was the whole plan, to get them ticketed, to get them a court date and let them argue in front of a judge, and the judge will decide whether they're a cigar bar or not," Baader said. "The sooner it gets here the better. I think we're all wasting a lot of time on this."

Eric Rose, general manager of the Colorado Grande Casino, which has remained nonsmoking, said he is frustrated by what he sees as delaying tactics, enabling the casinos to continue allowing smoking while the legal process slowly unspools.

"I'm sure that's their plan," he said. "It could easily be a year, I'd imagine."

Stephanie Steinberg, chairwoman of Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado, said the law is clear. "I wish they would just come to the conclusion that the law is what it is," she said. "They still haven't accepted that the law applies to all casinos."

The fight over the smoking ban comes with high stakes. Since the ban took effect Jan. 1, casino revenue has fallen every month. In June, Cripple Creek's 17 casinos brought in a total of $12.8 million, down 4.3 percent from June 2007. It's the smallest decline this year, but June is also the first month that includes the new Wildwood Casino and its 678 slot machines.

Nevertheless, Baader said the figures are moving in the right direction.

"The Wildwood Casino is bringing a bunch of new faces to town, like I always thought it would," said Baader, who is wrapping up his job as construction supervisor for the Wildwood. "That's the best news I've heard all month. We're still down, but we're not getting whacked."

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