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Tribes Want Feds to Rule on ‘Bandit’

Six American Indian tribes have sounded an alarm over a type of one-armed bandit that, in the eyes of the group, straddles the line between bingo and slot machines.

Three of those tribes run casinos in San Diego County.

At issue are electronic machines that are technically bingo games, but are packaged up to resemble slot machines.

Representatives of one vendor explained that electronic bingo machines display a bingo card, but it might not be the main display of the machine. The main display might show the reels typically found on a slot machine. Yet the workings of the reels always mimic the action on the bingo board.

The game is also structured differently. While a person on a slot machine plays against the house, a bingo machine has players competing against each other.

Why does it matter? Federal law says the state may set limits on the number of slot machines a tribe may have. Yet the state has no such jurisdiction over bingo machines , at least the way the law is written now.

The California Tribal Business Alliance, the group raising the alarm, includes the Pala Band of Mission Indians, the Pauma Band of Luise & #324;o Indians and the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, all of San Diego County. The other three alliance members are from Northern California.

Their appeal in a Jan. 17 letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is essentially this: If a tribe tells the state that a certain machine is a bingo machine, we want federal authorities to come in and reassure the state, in writing, that yes, it is a bingo machine.

Absent such reassurance, the state government should treat the machine as a garden-variety slot machine , subject to the limits, revenue sharing agreements and other provisions of their tribal-state compact.

Alison Harvey, the executive director of the six-tribe group, said she believes there are machines out there that blur the line between bingo and slot machines.

And while the letter asks for help under existing law, skies may be darkening over the bingo machine, as the federal Justice Department is mulling stricter rules on such devices.

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L.A. Getaway:

San Diego County’s Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino announced Jan. 10 that it has opened an office in the Los Angeles area, largely to cater to high rollers.

Barona has leased 1,000 square feet in the community of San Gabriel, where it employs a staff of three.

It’s a business development venture. Office staff will arrange accommodations at Barona’s hotel and casino, tee times at the adjacent golf course and luxury transportation for Angelenos headed to the Barona Reservation. Options include helicopter and limo service.

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By The Numbers:

San Diego County has the most slot machines of any county in California, according to data put together by UC Riverside.

The county had 13,289 slot machines spread among nine casinos in 2005. Riverside County was second with 11,269 machines.

Statewide, there were 58,721 machines during 2005.

The UC Riverside study had a broader aim. It used census data to show how casinos have helped economic development in rural parts of California. The project was funded by the Pechanga tribal government, which runs a casino on its reservation near Temecula, and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association.

The association unveiled its study Jan. 11 at the organization’s Western Indian Gaming Conference in Palm Springs.

During opening remarks at the conference, Anthony Miranda, who chairs both the Pechanga band and the multi-tribal association, made a couple of references to San Diego County.

He hailed the La Jolla Band of Luise & #324;o Indians, which is progressing with plans to build a 35,000-square-foot casino near Palomar Mountain.

Miranda also decried “unfair treatment” by local government toward the Jamul Indian Village. The Jamul band wants to build a casino and resort on a relatively small parcel of land along state Route 94. Many of the tribe’s neighbors have spoken out against the plan , and the proposal that preceded it.


Send American Indian gaming news to Brad Graves by e-mail at bradg@sdbj.com, or call him at (858) 277-6359.

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