Senator slams ‘mini casino’ growth

Paul Queary

Thursday, April 17, 2003 | 11:36 a.m.

OLYMPIA -- With some lawmakers still eyeing gambling as a possible source of money to balance the budget, a Democratic state senator wants to get rid of non-tribal mini casinos, saying their rapid growth and political clout have made them obnoxious.

Sen. Margarita Prentice said the 1997 change to the state's gambling laws that allowed house-banked card games such as blackjack in cardrooms has turned out to be a mistake, with an explosion of such establishments -- technically known as enhanced cardrooms.

"We turned them into avaricious monsters," Prentice, D-Seattle, said Tuesday. "There's no way to deal straightforwardly with these guys."

Prentice's proposal, which is unlikely to win passage so late in the Legislature's session, would end new minicasino applications after the 12 currently under consideration by the Washington State Gambling Commission. On Jan. 1, 2016, the bill would abolish house-banked card games -- limiting cardrooms to games such as poker that pit players against one another, with the house charging players by the hour.

Such games are less popular and much less profitable than blackjack and would likely drive many of the existing mini casinos out of business. Prentice acknowledged that, but said the long timeline would allow mini-casino owners to recoup their investment.

The Recreational Gaming Association condemned the idea, saying it would cost 8,000 jobs and millions in local gaming taxes paid by the state's 118 licensed cardrooms.

"We can find no basis for Sen. Prentice's call to abolish our industry," said Gary Murrey, president of the association. "We have testimonials from throughout the state that cardrooms are good neighbors."

The association is part of the Entertainment Industry Coalition, an alliance that also includes restaurant owners, bars, bowling alleys and charitable bingo operations. The coalition has been lobbying hard for access to the lucrative slot-machine-like lottery systems used in tribal casinos.

Thus far that proposal, which could dramatically expand gambling in Washington, has made little progress in the Legislature, even though the coalition promised hundreds of millions in new tax revenue. Instead, lawmakers in the House are looking at expanding the state lottery's Keno game from once a day to once ever few minutes.