Rhode Island casinos ban smoking at table games following worker protests

Smoking will no longer be allowed at table games at Bally’s Twin River Lincoln and Tiverton casinos.

New rules went into effect Friday morning, spokeswoman Patti Doyle confirmed.

"Customers who wish to smoke must leave the table and use a smoking receptacle on the outer perimeter of the table games area," she wrote in an email. "We have posted signage and ashtrays have been removed at the tables."

Workers have been rallying to ban smoking inside the casinos, noting the health hazards associated with secondhand smoke. A bill introduced by Rep. Teresa Tanzi, D-Narragansett, seeks to repeal the state law that allows casinos to be exempt from the ban on smoking in workplaces.

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Bally's representatives have expressed opposition to the bill, saying that there are already smoke-free areas in both casinos.

Smoking was temporarily banned at the casinos when they first reopened after being shuttered due to the pandemic, but those rules were lifted in March of this year.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Twin River casinos ban smoking at table games, following protests