Earl Robertson has these words for the Kanawha County expanded smoking ban that takes effect today: "totally ridiculous."

Robertson is 63 years old. He's been smoking since he was a teenager.

But starting today, Robertson won't be allowed to light up when he stops to play the video poker machines at the New Orleans Coffee House in St. Albans.

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Board has deemed smoking off limits in bars, gambling parlors and the Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center.

"It's a total injustice to an individual's personal rights," Robertson said, lighting a cigarette and playing a game of Caveman Keno on Monday. "It's totally ridiculous. I won't come here as much as I have in the past."

Bar and video poker parlor owners are bracing for the smoking ban.

They predict they'll lose boatloads of business. Most of their customers smoke. If they start losing patrons, they fear they'll never get them back.

"Our customers aren't happy about it, but there's absolutely nothing we can do," said Steve Scott, vice president of operations for WV Restaurant Management, which runs Mimi's video slot parlors in Kanawha and Putnam counties. "We have no choice. We're at the mercy of the health department."

Sales dropped by at least 25 percent at a Mimi's location in Teays Valley after the Putnam County health board passed a no-smoking regulation last year, Scott said. The smoking ban was later rescinded. Scott estimates that at least 80 percent of Mimi's customers smoke.

Dave Kline, who operates New Orleans Coffee House parlors in St. Albans and Putnam County, also saw his sales plummet in Putnam during the six months the smoking ban was in effect there.

"We lost 40 percent in revenue, and I can document that," Kline said. "I've already had my Kanawha County customers walk up to me, look me straight in the eye and say, 'There's no way I can visit here if I can't smoke.'"

Like other business owners across the county, Kline is scrambling to find creative ways to keep his smoking patrons happy and still comply with the new regulations.

Kline has spent $4,000 building an outdoor smoking shelter beside the gambling parlor. Smokers can light up there when they take breaks from playing the machines.

Robertson, for one, believes it's unfair for Kline to be forced to make expensive accommodations.

Earl Robertson has these words for the Kanawha County expanded smoking ban that takes effect today: "totally ridiculous."

Robertson is 63 years old. He's been smoking since he was a teenager.

But starting today, Robertson won't be allowed to light up when he stops to play the video poker machines at the New Orleans Coffee House in St. Albans.

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Board has deemed smoking off limits in bars, gambling parlors and the Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center.

"It's a total injustice to an individual's personal rights," Robertson said, lighting a cigarette and playing a game of Caveman Keno on Monday. "It's totally ridiculous. I won't come here as much as I have in the past."

Bar and video poker parlor owners are bracing for the smoking ban.

They predict they'll lose boatloads of business. Most of their customers smoke. If they start losing patrons, they fear they'll never get them back.

"Our customers aren't happy about it, but there's absolutely nothing we can do," said Steve Scott, vice president of operations for WV Restaurant Management, which runs Mimi's video slot parlors in Kanawha and Putnam counties. "We have no choice. We're at the mercy of the health department."

Sales dropped by at least 25 percent at a Mimi's location in Teays Valley after the Putnam County health board passed a no-smoking regulation last year, Scott said. The smoking ban was later rescinded. Scott estimates that at least 80 percent of Mimi's customers smoke.

Dave Kline, who operates New Orleans Coffee House parlors in St. Albans and Putnam County, also saw his sales plummet in Putnam during the six months the smoking ban was in effect there.

"We lost 40 percent in revenue, and I can document that," Kline said. "I've already had my Kanawha County customers walk up to me, look me straight in the eye and say, 'There's no way I can visit here if I can't smoke.'"

Like other business owners across the county, Kline is scrambling to find creative ways to keep his smoking patrons happy and still comply with the new regulations.

Kline has spent $4,000 building an outdoor smoking shelter beside the gambling parlor. Smokers can light up there when they take breaks from playing the machines.

Robertson, for one, believes it's unfair for Kline to be forced to make expensive accommodations.

"It's a shame," Robertson said. "He's making that additional investment to hang on to his clientele, and it's still not going to work. A lot of places are going to go out of business, and I just don't believe the people making this decision are informed."

Last fall, health board members unanimously passed the new regulations, which added bars, gambling parlors and the dog track to the list of indoor places where smoking is prohibited. The board held two public hearings and reviewed dozens of letters - both pro and con - about the anti-smoking rules. About 180 bars are affected by the ban.

Jim Hale, regional manager for Moose International's West Virginia affiliate, predicts the lodge's donations to charitable organizations will decline up to 35 percent under the smoking ban. The county's three members-only Moose lodges - in Charleston, St. Albans and Nitro - donate their video-poker profits.

"The sad part of this is we're a private organization," Hale said. "The law shouldn't apply to private organizations. It's not like we're open to anyone."

At Jean Angle's The Pour House Sports Bar in North Charleston, patrons took part in an "All American Smoke All You Want Night" on Monday. The bar gave away cigarettes.

Angle made a sign that she plans to put on the front door at noon today. It says, "No smoking, thanks to the Kanawha-Charleston health board."

"Everybody's bitching," said Angle, one of the smoking ban's most vocal critics. "My biggest worry is belligerent customers. When we tell them they can't smoke, they're going to throw a fit.

"I just hope and pray I'm not going to lose my business."

Angle, Kline and others say the health board shouldn't have the right to impose the smoking ban because its members aren't elected. Instead, they're appointed by Charleston Mayor Danny Jones and Kanawha County commissioners.

Smoking-ban critics also note that two health department leaders - board President Dr. Steven Artz and Executive Director Dr. Kerry Gateley - won't be around to deal with the decision's fallout. Artz's term expired Monday, and Jones declined to reappoint him. Gateley plans to leave his post in nine days after taking a health director's job in Lynchburg, Va.

The video poker parlors are expected to be the hardest hit by the smoking ban. Unlike bars, the gambling establishments make little money on food and beer sales. They sell doughnuts, coffee, chips and cigarettes - not much else.

"All of our revenue is machine-driven," Kline said. "It's not like I have food or liquor sales as backup. It's scary."

Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com or 348-4869.