DENVER -- The statewide smoking ban will go into effect next Saturday after all.

A federal court judge on Friday denied a group's attempt to block the ban on smoking in most indoor public places.

A coalition of 500 bar owners, bowling alleys, liquor stores and others filed a lawsuit earlier this month seeking to block the law. They sought a temporary restraining order to keep the law from taking effect while their lawsuit proceeds.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock denied the temporary restraining order, saying that the group failed to meet the burden of proof and were unlikely to win their argument that the ban violates their constitutional rights.

However, Babcock made it clear that he thought the smoking ban was bad legislation, questioning why it covers most public places but exempts others, particularly casinos.

"Where's the sense in that?" Babcock asked.

Some spectators applauded, prompting a rebuke from the judge.

"You applaud in a theater. You don't applaud in a courtroom," he said.

Babcock said the group couldn't prove that the ban would irreparably hurt their businesses and cause them to go out of business.

He said that the taverns could make an argument that the ban is unfair because of the exemptions, but he gave deference to the lawmakers. He said legislators looked at all the issues and although he's not crazy about the ban, he said that lawmakers do have a right to put forward this kind of legislation.

Babcock said the bar owners failed to show "the act is irrational, regardless of what I may think."

His ruling did not affect the lawsuit itself, which can still proceed.

The coalition said it will have to regroup and decide whether to continue with a long, most likely expensive, legal process of overturning the law.

The lawsuit was filed by Coalition for Equal Rights Inc. and tavern owner Shari Warren.

The group believes business owners should have the right to choose whether to implement the ban.

"If I put up a sign that says, 'This is a smoking environment', and you don't like it, don't come in," said James Von Felt of Coalition for Equal Rights. "I mean, let the business owner decide what's good for his business, not the government."

The law, approved by the Legislature in March, bans smoking in most public places but exempts casinos, cigar bars, the Denver International Airport smoking lounge and private workplaces with three or fewer employees.

The coalition has argued the exemptions are unfair, but the state attorney general argued Thursday that legislators had their reasons for not extending the ban.

In crafting the law, legislators were concerned that casinos in Colorado's three gambling towns would be on unequal ground with Indian casinos unregulated by state law, Attorney General John Suthers wrote. Also, legislators heard evidence indicating smoking bans generally have had a positive impact on the restaurant business but a negative effect on casinos.

Sponsor Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, said he didn't want the casino exemption but thought accepting it was the only way to get a smoking ban passed.

"On balance, the bill we have isn't something that everyone loves but (it's) one we can live with," Grossman said.

Airports, meanwhile, attract mostly non-Coloradans, as opposed to businesses subject to the ban, Suthers wrote.

Attorney Joseph Becker, representing the coalition, countered that the law was still unfair. "Under the ban, facilities offering games of chance are included. Casinos are specifically exempted. It's awfully hard to justify that," Becker said.

Warren's tavern, for example, offers free poker tournaments.

Suthers said his office has not found any cases of smoking bans overturned on substantive constitutional grounds.