CHARLESTON, W.Va. - New sales figures from the West Virginia Lottery seem to support Kanawha County bar owners' claims that the county's 2-month-old smoking ban is financially hurting their businesses.

Bar and gambling parlor patrons pumped about $554,000 less into limited video lottery machines in Kanawha County last month compared to August 2007, even though the number of poker machines increased by 75 during the past year.

In other words, sales dropped about $2,000 per machine across the county, according to a Gazette analysis of Lottery data released Thursday. 

"You've got 15 more locations and 75 more machines, but you have less money," said Jesse Bane, spokesman for the West Virginia Association of Club Owners and Fraternal Service. "It looks like the smoking ban is hurting their business."

Statewide, limited video lottery sales increased.

Customers put $129.1 million into the machines last month, up from $117.8 million in August 2007. The number of video poker machines increased by 665, but sales per machine stayed the same statewide.

In Kanawha County, bar and gambling parlor customers spent about $1 million less on video poker last month, compared to June. The smoking ban took effect July 1. Limited video lottery sales for the months of July and August were nearly identical.

In recent weeks, bar and gambling parlor owners have complained that the smoking regulations have devastated their businesses.

Lottery Commission data shows that video poker sales would have decreased by about 12 percent in Kanawha County, if the number of machines had been the same last month as in August 2007.

"We're down," said Steve Scott, vice president of operations for WV Restaurant Management, which runs Mimi's video slot parlors in Kanawha and Putnam counties. "We're watching it."

Scott estimates that at least 80 percent of Mimi's customers smoke. The chain has strictly enforced the smoking ban, Scott said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - New sales figures from the West Virginia Lottery seem to support Kanawha County bar owners' claims that the county's 2-month-old smoking ban is financially hurting their businesses.

Bar and gambling parlor patrons pumped about $554,000 less into limited video lottery machines in Kanawha County last month compared to August 2007, even though the number of poker machines increased by 75 during the past year.

In other words, sales dropped about $2,000 per machine across the county, according to a Gazette analysis of Lottery data released Thursday. 

"You've got 15 more locations and 75 more machines, but you have less money," said Jesse Bane, spokesman for the West Virginia Association of Club Owners and Fraternal Service. "It looks like the smoking ban is hurting their business."

Statewide, limited video lottery sales increased.

Customers put $129.1 million into the machines last month, up from $117.8 million in August 2007. The number of video poker machines increased by 665, but sales per machine stayed the same statewide.

In Kanawha County, bar and gambling parlor customers spent about $1 million less on video poker last month, compared to June. The smoking ban took effect July 1. Limited video lottery sales for the months of July and August were nearly identical.

In recent weeks, bar and gambling parlor owners have complained that the smoking regulations have devastated their businesses.

Lottery Commission data shows that video poker sales would have decreased by about 12 percent in Kanawha County, if the number of machines had been the same last month as in August 2007.

"We're down," said Steve Scott, vice president of operations for WV Restaurant Management, which runs Mimi's video slot parlors in Kanawha and Putnam counties. "We're watching it."

Scott estimates that at least 80 percent of Mimi's customers smoke. The chain has strictly enforced the smoking ban, Scott said.

"I don't think we have any other choice," he said.

At the Pour House Sports Bar in North Charleston, customers spent $7,000 less playing video poker last month compared to August 2007.

Jean Angle, who owns the bar, acknowledged West Virginia's sluggish economy has hurt her business. But so has the smoking ban, she said.

"My lottery money pays my rent and pays my utilities," said Angle, an outspoken critic of the smoking regulations. "That's where the hardship comes in. It doesn't surprise me that my numbers are down."

Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health members said they expected bar sales to drop after the smoking ban took effect. They predict bar and gambling parlor sales will rebound in time.

"In other localities, there's usually a decline in the first few months after clean indoor air regulations are passed," said health board President Brenda Isaac. "But their business will actually come back to normal levels, and in many cases, they see an improvement."

Bane said most bars couldn't afford to wait months for their business to return.

"The little bars don't have six months to sit around," Bane said. "If people have to leave the bar to smoke, that break disrupts the [video poker] game play. And you have other people who say, 'If I can't smoke. I'm not going to come in.'"

Earlier this week, a group of Kanawha County bar owners vowed to encourage their customers to continue to smoke in defiance of the smoking ban.

The Health Department plans to step up enforcement in the coming weeks. On Wednesday, department officials met with Kanawha County prosecutors to discuss how to penalize bars that violate the ban. 

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