Judge rules electronic bingo machines gambling devices

By BILL LUCKETT Stsar-Tribune Capital Bureau Christine Hunter plays electronic Bingo at Won Away Bingo on Wednesday afternoon in Casper. Won Away was open for business despite a ruling by District Court Judge James Burke in Laramie County on Wednesday that e-bingo machines are gambling devices and illegal. Photo by Dan Cepeda/Casper Star-Tribune. CHEYENNE -- Say good-bye to electronic bingo. The pastime enjoyed by thousands across Wyoming was deemed illegal by a Cheyenne-based state district judge in a ruling Wednesday. Many county prosecutors statewide were waiting for the decision by First District Judge James Burke to decide whether to shut down electronic bingo businesses in their jurisdictions, according to state Attorney General Pat Crank. Now that the ruling is out, prosecutors will likely stop the businesses from continuing their electronic bingo operations, although Burke's decision does not set a binding precedent statewide. In order to get a genuine precedent, the case would have to be appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court, and an attorney for several plaintiffs in the case said her clients would probably do just that. "I think we'll appeal. That's the general consensus right now," said Cheyenne attorney Gay Woodhouse, who represented Fraternal Order of Eagles clubs in Sheridan and Cheyenne as well as Dream Games of Arizona Inc., a company that leases the "e-bingo" machines to the clubs. Those plaintiffs had sued Laramie County District Attorney Jon Forwood, Sheridan County Attorney Matt Redle, and Cheyenne City Clerk Carol Intlekofer. Burke combined that case with one filed by Helping Hand Corp., a nonprofit that runs e-bingo games in Cheyenne and Torrington, against Forwood, Redle and four other county prosecutors. Burke ruled that, under state law, e-bingo machines are gambling devices. Such devices are illegal to use or possess. Also, the games played on the specific machines at the center of the two lawsuits "do not constitute 'bingo' as contemplated by the Legislature," Burke states in his ruling. The judge states that his conclusion relied heavily on a 1985 Wyoming Supreme Court case which allowed for the destruction of "37 gambling devices," including e-bingo machines, owned by the Cheyenne Elks Club. The "37 gambling devices" were the named plaintiff in the 1985 lawsuit. "Plaintiffs have failed to present any evidence which would warrant a different treatment for their machines" than for the 37 machines in the 1985 case, Burke wrote. Another reason for his decision was that profits from the e-bingo games are split between profit and nonprofit entities, which violates requirements in state law that bingo is only allowed in Wyoming if it is conducted by a nonprofit organization and no one derives a profit. If Burke's ruling holds up on appeal, it would render moot a bill sponsored by a legislative committee to ban e-bingo. The Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Interim Committee narrowly voted to pass that bill to the full Legislature when this year's general session convenes Tuesday. Outgoing panel member Rep. Dave Edwards, R-Douglas, said he thinks that bill would have failed this year. Edwards opposed the bill and would prefer that the state allow, regulate and tax e-bingo. Though Edwards said he would leave the legal analysis to judges and lawyers, he said it doesn't make sense that e-bingo should be banned just because it uses random number generators instead of a person drawing numbers out of a box. E-bingo is just the latest form of an allowable game that has simply taken advantage of evolving technology to allow the numbers to be drawn faster, he said. "Should we go back to manual typewriters because word processors generate the words too fast?" he asked. Capital bureau reporter Bill Luckett can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or at bill.luckett@casperstartribune.net.