TOM LOCHNER
TIMES STAFF WRITER
September 7, 2005
Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, has asked Attorney General Bill Lockyer to investigate the legality of electronic bingo machines at Casino San Pablo.
A spokesman for the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians, which owns the casino, said Hancock's move is an attack on the tribe's livelihood.
"Technology has blurred the line between what is Las Vegas-style gambling and bingo," Hancock said Tuesday. She has argued that the bingo machines, classified as Class II gaming devices under federal law, are de facto Class III devices like Las Vegas-style slot machines.
Electronic bingo machines have a screen with rows of symbols that resemble those of Nevada slots. A second screen above the first displays bingo cards.
Electronic bingo, as a form of bingo, requires the player to push a "daub" button. Payments are determined by a bingo computer.
"These 'bingo' machines look like a Las Vegas slot machine and act like a Las Vegas slot machine and we should know if these 'bingo' machines comply with federal law," Hancock said.
Casino San Pablo, which is on the Lytton Band's 9 -acre downtown reservation, inaugurated 500 electronic bingo machines Aug. 1.
San Pablo City Manager Brock Arner said Hancock is talking to the wrong agency.
"It would seem that she should be conferring with the National Indian Gaming Commission," Arner said.
Tribes in Oklahoma and Florida have used electronic bingo machines such as the ones at Casino San Pablo in their reservation casinos for some time in accordance with NIGC regulations, Arner said.
Lockyer spokesman Nathan Barankin said "video lottery or bingo terminals" are "something we will be taking a look at and assessing," but could not offer more details.
"It's an issue we're familiar with and concerned with," Barankin said.
Doug Elmets, a spokesman for the casino and the tribe, denounced Hancock's action as "completely typical of her efforts to thwart the Lytton tribe from any opportunity at economic prosperity."
The tribe opted to install Class II machines after the Legislature balked at ratifying its compact with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for 2,500 Nevada slots. Class III devices require state approval. Class II devices do not.
"The irony is that the state would have had jurisdiction over the machines had they approved the compact which (Hancock) fought so hard to prevent from being ratified," Elmets said.
Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.