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9 GLR 1 (2005)

handle is hein.journals/gmglwr9 and id is 1 raw text is: GAMING LAW REVIEW Volume 9, Number 1, 2005 ©Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Washington State Debates Level Playing Field, Again I NELSON ROSE A N UNSOLVABLE PROBLEM HAS REEMERGED in Washington State: How to let privately- owned cardclubs and tribal casinos compete as equals. Whichever side is asking for more al- ways argues that all it wants is a level play- ing field. There is no solution, because cardclubs and tribal casinos are located in different legal and economic worlds. Privately owned clubs came first. They were small, no more than five tables, and limited to non-banking card games, like poker, with low stakes. But they survived because they were usually located in the hearts of cities. Tribal gaming exploded in the 1990s, start- ing with high stakes bingo and poker. But the tribes' gaming operations were usually quite a ways from centers of population. Then the state signed compacts allowing tribes to have true casinos, although lacking slot machines, with house-banked blackjack, roulette, craps, and 19 other named games, besides any other table game authorized for play in Nevada. Cardclubs began to fail: There were 113 in 1994, three years later there were only 86. The clubs demanded a level playing field. Al- though lawmakers would not let them have slot machines, they did begin relaxing their re- strictions. First, the Washington State Gam- I. Nelson Rose, J.D. Harvard Law School 1979, is a Pro- fessor of Law at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Cali- fornia. He is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on gambling law and is a consultant to govern- ments and industry. Professor Rose can be reached at his Web site <http://www.GAMBLNGANDTHELAW.cOm>. © Copyright 2004 by I. Nelson Rose. All rights reserved worldwide. Gambling and the Law® is a registered trade- mark of Professor I. Nelson Rose, Whittier Law School, Costa Mesa, California. bling Commission, which has the sole power to determine how much players may bet, raised the maximum wager from $10 to $25. The leg- islature then expanded the number of tables al- lowed from 5 to 15. But tribal casinos expanded; starting with 32 tables, with $250 maximum bets, casinos grew to 52 tables, with wagers up to $500. Cardroom revenue continued to decrease. The political problem for the state was that the clubs not only create jobs, they are heavily taxed, with the revenue going to cash-starved local governments. The only form of gambling which can com- pete against a casino is another casino. The leg- islature bit the bullet and allowed the strug- gling cardclubs to become mini-casinos, with up to 15 house-banked blackjack tables. Tribal casinos, offering the same games, but in remote locations, knew they needed something more to level the playing field. They soon got what they wanted in a major way from the state. Under federal law, tribes have the right to of- fer any form of gambling permitted by state law. Tribes argued successfully in court and in their negotiations that the state itself was op- erating a lottery that used mechanical devices. This led to compacts that allowed tribal casi- nos to have video lottery devices, practically in- distinguishable from slot machines. It was now the cardclubs' turn to ask for a level playing field. The Gambling Commission responded by raising the betting limit to $100. But that was not enough to save all the clubs. The cardclubs' Recreational Gaming Associ- ation asked the Gambling Commission to raise the maximum bet to $300. Opposition arose from the anti's, especially Citizens against Gambling Expansion, led by former Governor Booth Gardner and King 1

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