In Virginia, new rules are about to take effect regulating the electronic games offered in fraternal organizations, veterans groups and other charitable groups that use revenue from the games to supplement bingo proceeds. In addition, new rules will govern in-person Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments the charitable groups soon will offer.
State Del. Paul Krizek, chair of the General Assembly joint subcommittee studying charitable gaming, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, “People were saying, ‘Bingo is getting boring,’ and they wanted something more exciting.” However, Krizek noted, “It was beginning to look like charitable gaming was a business. We don’t want poker halls on every street corner. Now, I think we’re getting back to where we were before,” with the new regulations.
The handle from electronic pull-tab games jumped from slightly below $107 million in 2013 to a peak of more than $964 million in 2019. In 2018, the only legal gambling included the state lottery, live horse racing and regulated charitable gaming, which took in $260 million, compared to $790 million from unregulated electronic pull tabs.
Regulated gambling continues to boom in Virginia, following historical horseracing’s debut in 2019, internet Lottery sales in 2020, sports betting in 2021 and the opening of Virginia’s first casino in Bristol in 2022. Gambling handle rose from $3.4 billion in 2018 and $12.4 billion last year. Regulated charitable organizations took in $16.5 million in 2020, about 12 percent of the total handle from bingo and paper pull-tabs.
Under the new rules for electronic gaming, a minimum of 20 percent of revenue must go to charitable purposes. That’s different from the traditional 10 percent of adjusted gross revenue organizations must pay for bingo or paper pull-tab games.
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which regulates charitable gaming, had wanted a 40 percent minimum from electronic gaming revenue to go to charitable purposes. But operators and suppliers pushed back, stating 40 percent was too high and would result in not enough money to make the odds for bettors attractive and to cover equipment costs. Krizek said, “I think we’re going to see a lot more money for charities. And the public will have a better sense of where their money goes.”
Liam Gray, spokesperson for the Virginia Charitable Bingo Association, told the Times-Dispatch, “It is our hope that, just as VDACS was so receptive to public feedback in the crafting of electronic gaming regulations, the final poker regulations will be shaped in a way that works best for the charitable organizations, the playing public and the commonwealth as a whole.”
But Gray noted, “The draft poker regulations include numerous problems that are unfair both to the playing public and to the charities, trade organizations and social clubs that host them.” Gray added the proposed poker regulations are inconsistent with current law and with the rules of the games themselves.”
Meanwhile, an injunction remains in effect blocking enforcement of a state ban on slot-like skills games. Before the ban was enacted in 2021, analysts estimated the machines, taxed at $1,200 each per month, would have generated $130 million a year.
Krizek is concerned that gambling is regulated by three different state agencies: the Racing Commission, for horse racing; the Lottery, for casinos and sports gaming; and VDACS, for charitable gaming. He noted the three regulators have different fees to fund education and provide problem gambling services. “This is important. It can be addictive.”
