New Jersey ? An Atlantic City without smoking was once akin to a casino without slot machines – unimaginable. But times have changed.

The city is now poised to stamp out smoking in the town’s 11 casinos. If the City Council passes the smoking ban Friday, Mayor Robert Levy can sign it into law after 20 days.

That has casino operators worried that some of their loyal customers might go to more smoker-friendly establishments, such as Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun, the American Indian-owned casinos in Connecticut, or even to slot machine parlors in Pennsylvania.

“Given the economic effects that the imposition of a smoking ban would cause,” revenues would dive 20 percent, resulting in “approximately 3,400 employees being laid off,” Casino Association of New Jersey chief Joseph Corbo warned.

State leaders never intended for the casinos to be smoke-free because when the state Legislature snuffed out smoking in most indoor public spaces in January, casinos were granted an exemption. But Councilman Bruce Ward says he found a loophole.