Published on: January 14, 2026, 02:22h.
Updated on: January 14, 2026, 02:22h.
- Proposed legislation in Missouri aims to eliminate indoor smoking in casinos
- Casino earnings have plateaued in Missouri in recent years
- Seventeen states currently permit some level of smoking within casinos
Missouri is one of 17 states that permit indoor smoking at casinos. Legislators in the Show-Me State are once again looking to modify smoking laws, aiming to compel smokers to step outside for their cigarettes.
Missouri’s Clean Indoor Air Law prohibits smoking in most public spaces. However, the state’s 13 casinos are exempt, provided they maintain designated smoke-free areas.
Casinos in Missouri can allow indoor smoking on up to 30% of their gaming areas.
House Bill 1618, a bipartisan initiative by state Reps. Bruce Sassmann (R-Osage), Terri Violet (R-St. Charles), and Adrian Plank (D-Boone), proposes the Missouri Clean Indoor Air Act, which would eliminate nearly all exemptions for indoor smoking, including those applicable to gaming establishments.
Under HB1618, all “gambling facilities” would be mandated to prohibit smoking entirely.
Current Smoking Regulations
Under existing state laws, public place owners can permit indoor smoking if they designate smoking areas and display the necessary signs. Facilities such as healthcare organizations, childcare centers, public restrooms, libraries, museums, and educational institutions must be completely smoke-free.
Restaurants and bars with fewer than 50 seats are allowed to permit smoking throughout, as long as they healthily advise patrons with “Non-Smoking Areas are Unavailable.” HB1618 seeks to modernize the state’s smoking regulations, rescinding all current exemptions except for cigar and tobacco bars that generate over 50% of their annual income from tobacco sales.
Despite the ongoing prevalence of indoor smoking exceptions in Missouri, previous attempts to enact comprehensive tobacco bans have been unsuccessful in recent sessions. Similar bills to HB1618 were presented in both 2023 and 2024; while some progressed through committees, none advanced through the General Assembly.
Missouri Gaming Earnings
2026 may not be the breakthrough year for advocates promoting smoke-free casinos, as the gaming industry faces stagnation.
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, Missouri casinos generated a combined gross gaming revenue (GGR) of $1.91 billion, marking merely a 1% increase from $1.89 billion in the prior fiscal year. Additionally, this figure was lower than the $1.92 billion recorded in 2023.
Missouri is flanked by six states with casinos—Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma—with only Nebraska and Illinois enforcing smoke-free regulations.
A ban on smoking could drive some Missouri residents to gamble in states that still allow indoor smoking. Notably, tobacco use in Missouri is significantly higher than the national average of 11.6% for adults, with the American Lung Association estimating that 16.8% of Missouri’s adult population smoke.