In the David versus Goliath battle between California’s gaming tribes and its card clubs, the clubs are outnumbered by a factor of about ten to one in financial resources. But that hasn’t stopped them from trying to fight the encroachment of Indian casinos when they might threaten card clubs.
The latest battleground is Elk Grove, California, near the state capital of Sacramento, where card clubs are behind efforts to force a city council action that would have made it easier for a tribe to build a casino in a distressed mall subject to a vote of the people.
The Wilton Rancheria has proposed a $400 million casino in the unfinished Elk Grove mall. Knighted Ventures LLC, which supplies employees for two area card clubs has funded an initiative that would give the voters a chance to undo a vote of the Elk Grove city council that made it possible for the tribe to get an agreement with the owner of the mall, Howard Hughes Inc.
Wilton Chairman Raymond Hitchcock calls the casino “an opportunity for our tribe to provide self-governance, self-sufficiency, self-determination, job opportunities, to provide housing and medical benefits.” He dismisses the card rooms as “out for themselves.”
The card clubs, however, see themselves as being the victims of aggression from gaming tribes stretching back to 2000 when the voters gave tribes the right to offer Las Vegas style gaming. The card clubs have been operating in the Golden State since the 1930s.
Kyle Kirkland, who owns a card club in Fresno, and is president of the California Gaming Association, told the Fresno Bee, “Certainly it’s a big project and it will have a big impact. It’s sort of irresponsible if you don’t use whatever tools you have to try to challenge it.”
The tribe have a muscular political presence due to the $7 billion a year business that tribal gaming represents. The state’s 72 card clubs generate about $800 million annually. The law gives tribes the exclusive right to operate slot machines and even prevents card clubs from acting as the house or bank in card games, which tribal casinos can do. This forces the clubs to employ third parties, such as Knighted Ventures, to act as dealers.
The tribes maintain a constant pressure to force card clubs to adhere to those rules and to tighten the enforcement. That pressure several months ago resulted in a stricter policy from the Bureau of Gambling Control, which operates under the Attorney General, that could force card clubs to interrupt games once an hour to offer the dealership to players.
Steve Stallings, chairman of California Nations Indian Gaming Association commented, “We’ve had people observing what they do, and it’s just a sham.”
Kirkland says this will cut into the profits of the card rooms. “The customer’s going to see it. It adds costs, it’s disruptive,” he said. “It’s like, every time you see a movie, we’re going to make you take an intermission. it’s very draining to have these regulatory battles.”
John Mikacich of the Limelight Card Room in Sacramento told the Fresno Bee, “It’s difficult when you’re at a significant disadvantage.” His family has owned the small operation since the 1950 and has a 75-worker payroll. He notes that when the voters authorized tribal casinos in 2000 that they were supposed to be built on reservations, which in California weren’t near large cities.
“I respect the tribe for trying to create an economic opportunity for themselves, but I think it’s important to create boundaries for where casinos can go,” said Mikacich.
For once, in the case of Elk Grove, it’s the card clubs that are taking the battle to one of the tribes. The fate of an Indian casino rarely, if ever, is left to the local voters. Normally it’s decided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the state government. Often tribes are required by their gaming compacts to deal with counties and cities, that’s not a federal requirement.
In the case of Elk Grove, however, the tribe can’t move into the mall without the city’s permission—and a voters’ initiative, backed by Knighted Ventures appears likely to give the voters a chance to exercise their veto. That wouldn’t prevent the tribe from finding another piece of land to buy within Elk Grove, but it does represent a delay.
And if that happens it would thwart an increasingly frustrated city of Elk Grove, which has been trying to make development of the Elk Grove Mall a development since the city was incorporated in 2000.
