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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) ― The atmosphere will be much different at the Showboat Casino-Hotel next spring, and Jackie Evans couldn't be happier.

The Osceola, Ind., woman comes to Atlantic City about three times a year, but says she plans to visit a lot more often now that the Showboat and at least five other casinos will ban all smoking on the gambling floor by next spring to comply with the city's new smoking restrictions at casinos.

"Thank God," said Evans, who quit smoking 11 years ago after several decades of lighting up. "People are very inconsiderate. They blow smoke right in your face. I smell like a giant cigarette when I get home."

But Willis DeBouse of Pittsburgh warns of dire consequences for Atlantic City once smoking is banished to smoking lounges, as the Showboat and many others plan to do.

"They are going to lose a lot of money," he said while pressing buttons on a slot machine at the Showboat. "I'll take the $5,000 to $6,000 that I gamble here three times a month and take it somewhere I can feel comfortable, like in Pennsylvania."

That is one of Atlantic City's great fears, that slots parlors in the Philadelphia area, Delaware and New York -- where smoking is allowed -- will draw smoking gamblers who flee Atlantic City. Out-of-state slots parlors are already drastically hurting casino revenues in Atlantic City this year.

"They're infringing on my rights," DeBouse said of the new restrictions. "I have a right to smoke. If you don't want to be around it, you have a choice -- move away from me. But you're leaving me no choice."

The City Council in Atlantic City had been set to ban smoking in all the casinos earlier this year, but relented under fierce pressure from the industry, which said it feared losing 20 percent of its revenue and as many as 3,400 jobs if smoking was totally banned.

Under a compromise, smoking must be banned on at least 75 percent of the casino floor. The law requires physical barriers to prevent smoke from bothering customers and employees in non-smoking areas.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which in addition to the Showboat owns three other casinos here -- Harrah's Atlantic City, Bally's Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City -- will comply with the law by opening smoking lounges. So will the Tropicana Casino and Resort, and Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.

That would leave their gambling floors totally smoke-free; patrons would have to enter one of the lounges in order to light up.

Resorts Atlantic City and the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort plan to hedge their bets by creating a smoking lounge at each casino, along with one slots area and one table games area at each casino that will be set aside for smokers.

The other two Trump casinos -- Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, and Trump Marina Hotel Casino -- will create separate smoking enclosures where gambling will be offered.

The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is the lone Atlantic City casino that has not yet revealed its plans to comply with the law. They had no immediate comment Friday afternoon, and a spokesman for the Community Affairs department said the Borgata had not filed its plan as of the close of business Friday afternoon.

The changes came about in part because of pressure from casino workers who hate working in smoke-filled rooms. Hundreds packed council meetings last winter calling for a total ban on smoking in casinos, and relating horror stories ranging from workers developing cancer and respiratory problems to a gambler irate over a losing streak who flicked an ash into a casino worker's eye.

Harrah's promises that no employees will be forced to work in smoking lounges against their will. And in bargaining talks, newly approved unions at several Atlantic City casinos are seeking to get that promise in writing with any contract they sign.

"We think it's a smart bet on the future for casino owners because the trends are clearly that fewer people are smoking," said Peter Slocum, a vice president with the American Cancer Society. "It's part of the new style in Atlantic City, where people are coming more for an entertainment experience. It makes perfect sense."

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