Dodd’s dud

An attempt to please all major players in the California gambling industry is dead in the Golden State Lege. Sponsor state Sen. Bill Dodd (D) tried to appease card rooms by offering them table games and positioning mobile sports betting. That was a no-go with the state’s tribes, for whom concessions to card rooms are anathema. According to Global Gaming Business, “The amendments to Dodd’s bill would mandate rotation of the dealing at card clubs, mandate fees for players, create a moratorium on new cardroom licenses and table games, and limit the growth of cardrooms while making it harder for them to relocate. It would also restrict advertising.”

Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians Chairman Mark Macarro didn’t hold back. He wrote to Dodd, “You’ve heard the expression lipstick on a pig? This adds the mascara on the same pig. It just got worse, is what happened. It talks about enforcement language, which is really enforcing the games the cardrooms will play, but after they get to legalize the illegal things they’re doing now.” Added tribal lobbyist David Quintana, “Unfortunately, these amendments were worked out without the opposition at the table. They still fall exceedingly short of anything close to being acceptable and so the tribes who were opposed are still opposed.”