Idaho tribes denounce ‘instant racing’ machines as an ‘illegal hoax’

The machines purport to be a new form of “pari-mutuel” betting on horse races, which is legal in Idaho; that is, betting in which a pool of bettors splits the winnings. But the machines don’t display current horse races; they show a snippet of the end of an unidentified past horse race.

Doug Okuniewicz, general manager of the Greyhound Park and Event Center, said the tribes are coming forth with a double standard.

“The entity that says it is not subject to any state regulation now wants to ask that same state to use its regulatory authority to put the regulated entity out of business so the unregulated entity can have a monopoly,” Okuniewicz said.

When the slot machine-like machines, which have tiny screens in one corner on which the last few seconds of one horse race after another is shown while operators bet and reels spin with symbols, started showing up at Idaho tracks last spring, some lawmakers said they felt they had been “duped.”

So far, the instant racing machines have been installed at the Greyhound Park, Les Bois Park near Boise and an off-track sport bar in Idaho Falls.

“All you have to do is go play them and ask yourself if you are actually betting on a horse race,” said Chief Allan, chairman of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. “It’s a hoax that has consistently been found illegal in other states and these machines will continue to make a mockery out of the law until Idaho does something to stop it.”

Okuniewicz said the horse racing industry welcomes and embraces the state’s regulatory role, whether or not the Indian casinos fight or ignore any state regulation of their devices.

“If anyone is being duped,” he said, “it is all of us that are being subjected to the fiction of calling a slot machine a ‘tribal video gaming device.’ ”

Todd Dvorak, spokesman for Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, said, “We are reviewing the letter and will discuss its contents with the Legislature and the governor.”

In their letter to Gov. Butch Otter and Wasden, the tribal leaders – from the Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai, Shoshone-Bannock and Shoshone-Paiute tribes – noted a 2006 ruling by the Wyoming Supreme Court, which found that the machines were “a slot machine that attempts to mimic traditional pari-mutuel wagering” and that the court was “not so easily beguiled.”

Idaho tribes offer slot machine-like betting machines at their tribal casinos, under compacts signed with the state pursuant to the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

“Collectively, Idaho tribes represent a top-ten employer in the state with a nearly USD1 billion impact on the state’s economy,” Allan said. “We play by the rules and we’re proud that our gaming operations have allowed us to make contributions to better the lives of the people of Idaho. But the potential for limitless, illegal gaming in every county in Idaho puts that at risk in a big way.”

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe proposed a tribal casino at the Greyhound Park in 1998, but the state said no, saying tribal gaming should stay on the reservation. But the new “instant racing” machines can be located at any facility authorized to offer betting on simulcasts of horse races, with up to one location allowed in each of Idaho’s 44 counties and no limits on the numbers of machines.

Otter had no immediate comment.

Gary Aitken, chairman of the Kootenai Tribe, said, “We look forward to working together with the State of Idaho to get this obvious double standard addressed.”