Macao casinos face total smoking ban

Macao's casinos and gambling trip organizers are fuming over a proposed smoking ban there, while Singapore's puffing gamblers show why.

Smoking has been prohibited for nearly a year in Macao's mass gambling floors, with the exception of a handful of designated lounges, where visitors huddle around ashtrays during hurried gambling breaks.

In contrast, smokers can light up at gaming tables and slot machines on the bottom floor of Singapore's Marina Bay Sands casino. They can even stay seated while hostesses sell them packs of Marlboro or Dunhill cigarettes for S$17 ($12). A bill being considered by Macao legislators to fully outlaw smoking in casinos promises to set the city's 35 betting parlors further apart from rivals in Singapore and other Asian gaming destinations.