Habematolel Pomo Doin It Right and Morongo Flips

Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake Compact - Support From All Sides

A week ago today the Assembly passed, by a 68-0 vote, a tribal gaming pact struck between the 205-member Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake and the governor. The compact is contained in SB 89.

The tribe is going by the book and so far they have support from all sides including Stand Up For California which is headed by Cheryl Schmit. “They’re following the right process. They got a local agreement. They got a compact. Now they’re going to proceed to the next step. There’s nothing to be against.” Schimt said. Schmit, a noted gaming critic, praised the tribe for waiting to take their land into trust before pursuing a compact. The Bureau of Indian Affairs granted the trust land just over a year ago

According to tribal chairwoman Sherry Treppa Bridges, the tribe began the project by going to county and local officials first, back in 2005. “It’s not controversial,” Bridges said. “We’ve got county support. We’ve got other tribal support.”

The deal would allow the tribe to operate up to 750 slot machines with an initial plan to roll out with only 349, plus six gaming tables. They plan to build a hotel at some point in the future but the initial facility will operate in a 34,000 square foot temporary structure.

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Morongo Now Supports Legalized Internet Poker in CA

A couple weeks ago the Morongo Band of Mission Indians testified in Washington D.C. against legislation to legalize and regulate Internet gambling in the United States.

They can’t seem to make up their mind but it is clear they want a majority of the action if it is legalized.

Next month the Morongo, who are part of a consortium of tribes, are going to Sacramento to offer the state a stake in the very lucrative Internet gambling market ($347 billion annually is wagered online globally) if they allow Internet poker sites to set up business in the state.

"About 1 million Californians are playing poker offshore right now," said Patrick Dorinson, a spokesman for the Morongo band.

He said the consortium proposes that the state regulate such games in California to ensure their legitimacy and protect players' privacy and that some of the revenue be shared with Sacramento.

State law gives Indian tribes the exclusive right to operate electronic games of chance. A breach of that law could jeopardize the $361 million the state gets annually from its share of slot play, said Cheryl Smith, president of Stand Up For California! Her group opposes gambling expansion without strict regulation.

State Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) who chairs the Governmental Organization Committee, which reviews gambling legislation, said any legislation would have to permit Internet games without allowing expansion of electronic gambling in casinos that would compete with Indian slots.

Some in the gambling industry claim that legalizing Internet poker in California would lead to the reduction of slot profits in the 58 casinos operated by Indian tribes in the state -- and thus reduce its income from such enterprises.

State officials have no estimate for the potential windfall, but I. Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier Law School and an expert on gambling law thinks that California Internet poker games could take in $1 billion each year and that if the state took the same 25% cut from poker that it takes from Indian-run slot machines, it could mean an extra $250 million for government coffers.