BILLINGS — When Montana’s smoking ban went into full effect Oct. 1, it hit some businesses hard and left others virtually unscathed. In general, establishments that catered specifically to the gambling crowd suffered most.

“Some little bars did well, but some, absolutely no one’s coming in,” said Steve Arntzen, chief operating officer for Century Gaming. The Billings-based business accounts for 25 percent of the video gaming machines in Montana. “Where gaming is secondary, those places haven’t been impacted nearly as much.”

That general rule seems to have traction in the Billings region. At CJ’s on the West End, food takes center stage over its 21 gaming machines. Co-owner Dave Holland said the ban made barely a ripple there.

“Some weeks are up, some weeks are down,” he said. “But everything sure smells a lot better.”

The Sports Page on Broadwater, with 23 television sets but no video gaming machines, was one of the few that actually benefited from the ban.

Steve Stokoe, the bar manager, was struck by the number of new faces that showed up the first weekend in October.

“Right after, I saw 15 to 30 sports fans I hadn’t ever seen before,” he said. “That was one of the biggest complaints — people wanted to watch football but they couldn’t stand the smoke.”

But Charlene Perez, a casino attendant at the “Keg” Nickel Ante on State Avenue, described a different scenario.

“Things are way down,” she said. “Our smokers are not coming in, and those who do come in don’t stay.”

Ron Lund, owner of both the Southern and Western Empire Emporiums, reported revenues down by 15 percent. Forty miles to the west, Sue Kraeplin said gaming was down 23 percent at the Sports Hut in Columbus.

“We all enjoy working in the smoke-free atmosphere,” she said. “But that’s our payroll, the casino.”

For some, adapting is just a matter of attitude. Jeff Flatness, owner of the Squire Lounge in Billings, said business was off by 12 to 18 percent — not as much as he’d feared.

“We’re down,” he said. “But I think people are starting to say ‘no big deal.’”

A former smoker, Flatness said he was the last of 22 former co-workers to kick the habit. He’s banking on the recent remodeling at the Squire to draw a good crowd, both smokers and nonsmokers.

“We’re really excited about it,” he said. “It (ban) is going to be good in the long run.”

Likewise, revenues were down at the Grand in Billings, but not nearly so bad as the jointly owned Gold Dust and TC’s. Joan Reimers, who oversees the operations, speculated that the difference related to the clientele. At the Grand, only about 50 percent of the patrons light up, whereas the Gold Dust and TC’s are frequented almost exclusively by smokers.

Reimers has noticed other changes, too. Some longtime smokers have taken up chewing tobacco. Others go out for a smoke, ask her to hold the machine and then never return.

“People are still coming in,” she said. “But instead of sitting for hours, they stay for half an hour or an hour.”

For each hour less that the machine gets play, less money goes in and less money pays out. With pay-outs down, patrons are tipping less and casino workers are beginning to scan the classifieds for second jobs.

“It’s just hurt the industry,” she said.

Reimers also worries about the costs that can’t be measured. For several of her regulars, longtime smokers, the casino was the only social life they had, she said.

“Now that’s taken away from them,” she said.