Battle over Bingo is escalating

By By Bob Martin, The Alabama Scene
In Gadsden, Jasper, Dothan, Whitehall and elsewhere across Alabama bingo is springing up in many different forms…and it’s giving Attorney General Troy King a headache because the laws establishing the games are different in most every location.
There is no question about the legitimacy of the charity bingo games at VictoryLand in Macon County, approved by a local constitutional amendment by the voters there, or the legality at Poarch Creek Indian operations at Atmore, Wetumpka and Montgomery. The Poarch Creeks can offer any game that is legal at any other location in the state. They can offer pari-mutuel betting if they wish to do so, but not Class III gaming, which consists of table games such as craps, poker, roulette and blackjack. Those games are not legal anywhere in the state.
Now Gov. Bob Riley is creating more confusion by forming a task force to investigate all gambling in the state. Riley’s task force has no teeth whatsoever and is doing nothing more than interfering with King’s attempt to sort out the varying laws and give advice to local officials.
Riley has been cozy with the Mississippi Choctaw casino operators, getting millions in campaign dollars from them filtered through convicted scammer Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, Riley’s former press spokesman in Congress. Abramoff, now serving time in prison, was quoted in the U. S. Senate’s “Gimme Five” investigation into tribal lobbying matters that the Mississippi Choctaws “had spent $13 million “to get the governor of Alabama elected to keep gaming out of Alabama” so it wouldn’t hurt their market in Mississippi. Actually, only about $2.5 million was funneled to Riley’s campaign via Abramoff and Scanlon through the Republican Governor’s Association. It is thought that Abramoff and Scanlon pocketed the rest. The investigation was conducted and the report issued by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, chaired by Sen. John McCain. In light of all this it is interesting that the governor is now courting the Alabama Poarch Creeks or vice versa. Nonetheless Riley was a special guest of the tribe a couple of months ago at their new Wind Creek casino and hotel at Atmore and toured the new gambling hall under construction at the time. This nugget was revealed by Tribal Chairman Buford Rolin, who was quoted in the Mobile Press-Register as saying that the governor did visit and admired the facility. Rolin said all it would take to have Class III gaming would be an “agreement with the governor,” saying that perhaps Class III games could be added in the future… “the not-too-distant future.”
So is the governor now getting cozy with the Poarch Creeks? Does he have plans to change his views and deal with the Creeks on high stakes table games? He should, because they would pay dearly for them, perhaps up to 35 percent of the take, to the state.
One person who believes Riley is about to cut a deal with the Poarch Creeks is Milton McGregor, owner of VictoryLand Race Track and Casino and the Birmingham Race Course. “Riley dealt with the Mississippi Choctaws why not deal with the Creeks.” McGregor says. He believes Riley will cut a deal with the Poarch Creeks, who pay no taxes to the state or local governments in Alabama, to give them dominance and a monopoly over gambling. Says McGregor: “The governor claims to be opposed to gambling. He is opposed to gaming like the cattleman’s association is opposed to cattle. You do not take money from the Indians unless there is a clear understanding as to why they are giving and why you are taking. Just connect the dots.”
McGregor made the comments last week at the opening of a new wing at the VictoryLand complex just east of Montgomery. This addition will hold 1,500 new bingo slot machines, giving the complex a total of 6,000. Across the parking lot a nine-story, 300 room hotel is nearing completion. It will be followed by a convention center and a 1,500 seat performing arts center which McGregor says will attract top entertainers.
VictoryLand employs 1,600 and is by far the largest employer and taxpayer in Macon County. Since its inception VictoryLand has paid over $183 million in local and state taxes and distributed nearly 100 million to local agencies and charities. The Birmingham Race Course since inception has paid over $110 million in taxes and nearly $50 million in local agency and charity distributions.
Bob Martin is editor and publisher of The Montgomery Independent. E-mail him at: bob@montgomeryindependent.com