A curious thing happened when Pennsylvania regulators allowed casinos to open their gaming floors to smokers again on June 28, after a restriction tied to COVID-19 precautions and mask mandates was lifted.

Two casinos — Parx and Mount Airy Casino Resort — independently opted to continue keeping their smokers outside, despite longtime contentions by the Pennsylvania casino industry that the loss of patrons’ smoking privileges could cut into gaming revenue.

Two others — Rivers Philadelphia and Live! Philadelphia — were required by the Philadelphia Health Department to resume smoking bans soon after the state restriction was lifted.