Michigan Cracks Down on Charity Poker Rooms
Michigan is now enforcing its charity poker laws in the wake of complaints regarding illegal gambling, gambling-related crimes, and violations of liquor laws. However, poker players, charitable institutions, and employees at poker rooms claim that the state is just trying to eliminate competition for its casinos. They warn that the state’s crack down on charity poker will make it difficult for non-profit organizations to raise funds and will result in loss of jobs.
Michigan’s Bingo Act permits non-profit organizations to hold “millionaire parties” to raise funds for charity. Millionaire’s parties usually include games such as blackjack and poker. Charity poker in Michigan has become very popular, leading to the establishment of over 40 permanent card rooms that offer drinks and food. Last year, as many as 2,525 charitable organizations obtained licenses to run charity poker games and generated around $16 million for charitable causes.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) recently re-interpreted the state’s charity poker laws in a bid to make them stricter. Accordingly, poker rooms can host only three charitable organizations per day from September and sell only chips worth $45,000 per day. Currently, poker rooms run as many as six charity poker events, selling chips worth as much as $90,000. The new laws also require charity poker events to conclude by midnight.
Kalm of the MGCB stated through an email: “Our intent is to limit large amounts of cash on hand and exposed, promote accurate record keeping, establish paper trail for subsequent audits, require the charities to be more engaged in the gaming operation.”
The MGCB has visited and inspected around 900 charity poker venues, after which it banned charitable institutions from organizing charity games at six venues found guilty of violating liquor laws, falsifying records, and failing to report chip sales. Kalm said: “There appears to be an inherent lack of internal controls at many events. Observations indicate lack of adequate security, proper record keeping, proper oversight of the gaming operations, and illegal non-charitable gambling.”
Owing to the rise in gambling-related crimes, the state had to re-interpret its poker regulations. James Nye, a consultant for Indian casinos in Detroit and Michigan, said: “We have a belief that these card rooms lack a necessary level of regulation for both the safety of the patrons, who go to these card games, as well as for necessary level of internal controls to insure the integrity of the games.”
However, Ed Sitek, who works as a dealer in the River Charity Poker Room, says that the state is trying to shut down charity poker to eliminate competition for commercial casinos. Charitable institutions are also not happy about the state’s move. Michigan Charitable Gaming Association Secretary Donna Gartside said that these restrictions will harm charitable organizations, preventing them from raising required funds.
She said “We’re frustrated, really frustrated, because the regulations are going to put organizations like the veterans and the sports boosters and the Lions Clubs, the Kiwanis, all of those they’re really going to hinder what they can do with charities.”
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