Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you, Mr. Juliano. (Operator Instructions). Your first question comes from the line of Harry DeMott from King Street Capital Management. Please proceed.
Harry DeMott - King Street Capital Management
Hi there, a quick question for you. When you go from 75% smoking ban to a 100% smoking ban, obviously, you've seen fall-off from the competition, and you've also seen fall-off from smoking but, if you take a look at some of the markets that kind have gone cold turkey on smoking like Indiana or Illinois, [I forget which one] but which ever of one it is, the numbers are pretty horrific and you've seen the other markets around the world. Do you expect to see that magnitude of drop when the smoking ban hits in October or do you think that you've taken most of that hit at this point and you'll -- it will just be a blip when it comes?
Mark Juliano
Well, there is two things to comment on that. Number one, I think that you kind of commented yourself that we have seen the brunt of it because even though you are allowed to smoke on 25% of our gaming floor now, the perception has been that you are not. So we have absorbed that, I believe. However, the other important thing to keep in mind is that you will still be able to smoke in the casinos. There will be enclosed lounges that will not have gaming equipment in them, but they will be very convenient for customers to access, and on top of that, we will be able to market to two different segments of people.
Now people who now have a smoke-free environment in the casino which they will enjoy, and customers who want to continue to smoke that will still be able to do so very close to or actually on the casino floor. So I think that unlike other jurisdictions where you see a dramatic fall-off when you go cold turkey, we have been dealing with this situation for quite sometime, and although it's not an ideal solution, I think that it was a fairly good compromise on both the industry and the city's part.
Harry DeMott - King Street Capital Management
We do think that (inaudible). And just a follow-up, I know that there is some talking about Pennsylvania going smoke-free as well. And I'm just wondering whether you think that you've actually lost customers to Pennsylvania because of smoking convenience or a combination of both, and therefore if you are back on equal footing you will win some customers back because it's obviously a lot nicer to come to the casinos in Atlantic City than it is to go to the halls down in Pennsylvania.
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