The Connecticut government says that the 100 electronic bingo machines sitting unused at the Foxwoods Resort Casino may violate the tribal state gaming compact with the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, which operates the casino.
The state asserts that the “Live Call Bingo” games are not covered by the compact and the revenue sharing section. Normally the tribes pay the state 25 percent of gaming revenues. This year the tribes paid $114 million to Connecticut.
The machines look and sound like typical slot machines, of which Foxwoods has more than 4,000. But they are Class III games, which have been held by the courts to be something that tribe can offer without a compact with the state.
Rodney Butler, chairman of the tribe, says he expects the dispute to be resolved without rancor. “We’re working with the state on an incredible partnership, in fact expanding our wonderful partnership that goes back 25 years,” he told the CT Mirror. “We would never put that in jeopardy.” Butler insists the tribe doesn’t intend to use the machines to go around revenue sharing.
The partnership he refers to is the Pequot and Mohegan tribes’ efforts to build a third, satellite casino in East Windsor to blunt the effects of the MGM Springfield that will open in Massachusetts in less than a year.
Some lawmakers are uneasy that the tribe is nevertheless testing the limits of the “partnership” with the state. Rep. Joe Verrengia, who co-chairs the legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee, told the Mirror, “I find that the timing of this is very odd. It’s after the fact, after we just spent so much time debating the casino and the financial impact that a new casino would have on the state.” It’s also odd, he says, because the tribes still need help from the state before they can begin building the new casino. At this point the Department of the Interior hasn’t yet issued the endorsement of the amended compact that reflects the new casino, and which makes clear that it would not violate the existing exclusivity clause that protects the two tribes from a commercial casino—which the East Windsor casino would be.
The CT Mirror obtained correspondence that showed that the state Department of Consumer Protection was caught napping by the deployment of the machines until they were on the verge of being deployed on the casino floor. Once the department became aware, it sent a letter to Foxwoods warning that the machines were made by a manufacturer, Video Gaming Technologies, that was not licensed to operate in the state.
The department also asked the tribe to confirm that the machines came under the 1993 compact—which the tribal gaming commission refused to do, claiming that Class III gaming is not covered by the compact.
A state official replied a week ago, “The question of whether these devices are electronic facsimiles of a game of chance or an electronic aid to bingo for purposes of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is nuanced and technical in nature.” She added, “I request that you please continue to withhold turning the Live Call Bingo machines on until such time as this issue can be resolved.”
One wrinkle of this situation that doesn’t benefit the tribe: If it is found that the machines are not covered by the compact, that would mean the state could allow commercial operators to offer them without affecting the exclusivity clause of the compact.
