PHOENIX — A battle over bingo is underway after regulatory state agencies said certain electronic bingo games being used at veterans organizations are illegal.
State Sen. Sonny Borrelli is fighting that and was joined by a group of veterans for a press conference on Monday at the State Capitol.
Veterans shared stories about how electronic bingo machines have generated significant revenue for their posts, allowing them to keep up with bills. Bingo license holders pay taxes on their earnings.
They said traditional bingo requires manpower and space most posts don't have.
"Traditional bingo you need a big, giant bingo hall. Some of these posts are so small they don't have a bingo hall to seat a hundred people but they could put five devices in there and play all day until somebody wins or doesn't win," Borrelli said.
Borrelli sponsored legislation back in 2017 allowing for the use of Bingo Technological Aids during bingo games to ensure the game remains accessible. Statute states the electronic aids can replace traditional bingo cards. Borrelli says the machines in question today are protected under his bill.
12News got a tour of American Legion Post 44 in Scottsdale to see how the electronic bingo machines work.
The day begins with a random drawing of thirty bingo numbers. Those numbers are then uploaded onto the local server and loaded into the bingo equipment.
“All those machines are, basically they’re TV monitors," said Greg Mullally, the president of Lynxx Technologies which provides the bingo equipment. "This allows the post to play bingo under the twelve hours a day that is allowed by state law without having the manpower to do it. And frankly the posts don’t have the manpower to do it.”
Within five minutes, users on the bingo machines are ready to play. During games, all thirty pre-drawn numbers are released at once and your screen notifies you if you've won. It's a style of bingo referred to as bonanza bingo.
Mullally said users can choose different 'skins' or themes to the bingo games. Some resemble traditional slot machine games. Mullally said despite the look, it's just a different graphic representation of bingo.
“Is this a slot machine? No, it’s not a slot machine. This is what it is. It’s a bingo game," Mullally said.
The governor disagrees.
"They are slot machines," said Gov. Katie Hobbs.
Arizona's Department of Gaming, Department of Revenue and Department of Liquor Licenses and Control sent a letter to bingo license holders in September warning them that using certain machines could lead to significant penalties.
“These machines are breaking the law and that’s very clear so we’re doing our job," Hobbs said.
The letter sent last month warned that allowing unlawful gambling could result in fines, a class two misdemeanor and the revocation of their liquor license.
The agencies provided photos of what they consider approved Bingo Technological Aids and illegal machines.
The agencies said electronic aids can be used as a substitute for bingo cards during real-time live games and are meant to be devices to assist individuals with disabilities to mark numbers on a bingo card as they are called out. They said the machines in question do not fit that description.
"The only form of bingo permitted by existing statute and rule is so called 'live-call' bingo, which is a game of bingo involving a bingo caller in the same room with bingo participants, as described in the bingo statutes and rules, which requires a caller to 'allow a reasonable length of time for a player to announce ‘bingo’ before proceeding with the next call,'" said the regulatory agencies in a follow-up letter to State Sen. Borrelli on Monday.
"Most troublingly, these machines are not subjected to the regulations imposed upon slot machines in a casino setting. Thus, it is possible that the machines are not facilitating gameplay that is fair and balanced for those individuals at the non-profit organizations you purport to protect. Indeed, the machines that you incorrectly assert are legal could be bilking Arizonans, and particularly Arizona’s veterans, out of their hard-earned money," the letter continued.
Borrelli is asking the governor's office for a meeting to try to sort things out.
"The Department of Gaming is the lead on this. The Department of Revenue is in concert with them, and even the Department of Liquor is threatening to prosecute and take away their liquor licenses and that's pathetic," Borrelli said. “Enough is enough. Hopefully we can get to the table.”
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