The reek of tobacco hits you almost immediately — thick and stale and inescapable.
On this particular summer afternoon at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, the smoke’s most obvious source is a row of video slot machines on the near side of the casino floor, where a group of women sit together like air traffic controllers, incessantly tapping the spin buttons with one hand, chain smoking with the other.
But you will encounter virtually this same noisome atmosphere at Caesars, or the Hard Rock, or Bally’s, on pretty much any day of the year. That’s because nearly 20 years after New Jersey banned smoking in most indoor buildings, Atlantic City’s casinos remain the only public place left in the state where people are legally allowed to light up.
