With a complete smoking ban on the horizon, Trump is worried about an even deeper cut in business. He also warned that New Jersey could lose millions of dollars in casino-generated tax revenue.

"Hundreds of millions of dollars will be lost in future taxes," he said.

Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and Trump Marina Hotel Casino are members of the Casino Association of New Jersey, a lobbying group that represents Atlantic City's gaming industry. Trump said the association should consider a lawsuit to block the smoking ban.

"If I were in charge of the Casino Association, I would challenge it," he said. "But I'm not in charge. If I were in charge, I would file an immediate lawsuit."

Casino Association President Joseph A. Corbo Jr. was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Mark Giannantonio, president of Tropicana Casino and Resort and a Casino Association board member, characterized the smoking lounges as "the lesser of two evils."

"Let's face it, taking smoking off the casino floor and putting it in smoking lounges is better than having a complete smoking ban," Giannantonio said. "A 100 percent smoking ban would have been devastating. We now have the ability to put smokers in smoking lounges instead of having a 100 percent smoking ban."

Dennis M. Farrell Jr., a casino analyst for Wachovia Capital Markets, predicted a smoking ban would hurt the most at the gaming tables, where there already is a relatively high concentration of smoking.

"In the smoking areas, the utilization is very high," Farrell said. "Removing that, it will take some time for the market to adjust. People will tend to play less."

Anti-smoking advocates say the proposed ban would protect gamblers and gaming employees from the dangers of secondhand smoke. The United Auto Workers union, which is trying to unionize casino dealers, said the ban would ensure a healthier workplace.

"No casino employee should be forced to work in hazardous conditions, and secondhand smoke is a hazardous condition," Joe Ashton, a UAW director, said in a statement.

Terry Shindel, a dealer at Caesars Atlantic City, said in some cases, pregnant casino employees have been required to work in smoking areas.

"My co-workers are suffering in this environment, and it's not fair," Shindel said in a statement issued by the UAW. "Workers in the casinos have been treated as second-class citizens with regard to our health."

Faced with a ban on lighting up, casino smokers portrayed themselves Thursday as victims of discrimination. They threatened to take their business elsewhere if the smoking ban begins Oct. 15.

"Oct 15th - that's the day that I'm not coming back to Atlantic City," complained George Terra, a gambler from Brooklyn, N.Y., who puffed on a cigarette while playing a video poker machine at Trump Plaza.

"They're going to lose a lot of business here," said Susan McIntyre, a Caesars customer who lives in Cranford, Union County. "I won't go to a place where I can't smoke. I enjoy smoking when I gamble."

Another Caesars customer, Martha Campise, of North Wildwood, said her friends have already begun to desert Atlantic City for the new slot parlors in Pennsylvania, where there are no casino smoking restrictions. She said she may soon be joining her friends.

"I'm not angry, but I feel like they are trying to squeeze me out," Campise said. "I will go somewhere else, where there is smoking."

To e-mail Donald Wittkowski at The Press:

DWittkowski@pressofac.com