In my early days of collecting (late 90s), a lot of machines I bought were from bars. My wife and I are super sensitive/allergic to smoke. These are the bees knees- https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Air-Sponge-Absorbing-Neutralant/dp/B001SBMLAM

I have done charcoal, coffee, baking soda, etc..... I now only use the Bad Air Sponge.

I buy and sell a lot of cars for fun, and my daily driver now was owned by a smoker, only I didn't know it because when I bought it, I had a severe cold. I parked it in the garage and my wife asked me why I bought a smoker's car.... Because of all the fabric and air vents, it took me two bad air sponges (about 3 months of treatment) to get rid of the smoke completely, but now it is completely gone.

YMMV.... Good luck!

Nope... I have bought a few vehicles that still smelled like smoke even after sitting for a few years...

You aren't lying.... I have a friend that is a car detailer and he has a really kick-ass steamer he uses for the vents to remove a lot of that shit. It is some nasty stuff.

I rarely use gloves for anything, but when I was cleaning pins, I would use them on the smoked up machines because the grime would make my skin itch like crazy.

I have been to several Pinball shows where “Human decay” seemed present in the air....