California’s card rooms are bristling at the implication by some gaming tribes that they are not regulated enough.
Recently the issue rose to the surface when a former head of the California Bureau of Gambling Control, Robert Lytle, was accused of interfering with an ongoing investigation of the San Jose card room Casino M8trix, who he represented as a consultant after leaving government service. Lytle is the subject of an investigation by the Attorney General’s office. The AG’s office recently filed a complaint saying that Lytle interfered with an investigation by asking for confidential information from an agent.
Some tribes point to the fact that the state has two agencies responsible for regulating gaming, the Bureau of Gambling Control and the California Gambling Control Commission. The governor oversees the bureau, while the commission comes under the AG’s office. No one agency is responsible for regulating gaming.
David Fried, an attorney specialize in gaming, told Bluff, “In a bifurcated structure, the investigator and judge are separate.” He added, “The California Gambling Control Commission is independent and gives everyone a fair hearing without rote deference to the bureau’s position. Yet, being removed from the investigation means that the Commission sometimes lacks the information the bureau has and cannot control how investigations proceed.”
Card room owners disagree vociferously with the implication that tribal casinos are effectively regulated while card rooms are not. Fried agrees with that assessment. “Non tribal gaming is highly regulated and by independent state agencies that have meaningful investigatory and regulatory powers,” he said.
Kyle Kirkland, who owns a card club in Fresno and is president of the California Gaming Association, says that it’s impossible to determine how well tribal gaming commissions do their work since it is done entirely behind closed doors. He adds that it is highly unfair to conclude from accusations made about Lytle that the accusations are true.
“To judge an individual on an accusation alone is grossly unfair,” he told Bluff. Nor does he think that the investigation is a reflection on card clubs in general.
“Drawing conclusions based on an accusation is like assuming the armed takeover of the Chukchansi Casino and Resort by a rival tribal faction panicking customers and prompting the Attorney General to ask a Federal judge to close that casino are common among California tribal casinos,” said Kirkland.
