Spokesman – The Coeur d’Alene Casino is ready to shuffle up and deal. The casino is advertising a May 2 opening date for its new poker room, with executives saying that Idaho’s constitutional ban on poker games doesn’t apply to the tribal-owned casino. But the Idaho Lottery Commission has different views, setting up a potential showdown over the casino’s six poker tables.
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe plans to offer Texas Hold ’Em and Omaha at the casino. Those are card games of skill with players competing against each other for stakes and no house bank involved, said Helo Hancock, the tribe’s legislative director. The tribe has sought several legal opinions on poker games. Based on those reviews, tribal and casino executives believe poker is exempted from state regulation under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Hancock said.
Jeff Anderson, director of the lottery commission, said the state has a different interpretation. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act does exempt some non-house banked card games on tribal lands from state regulation, but only when the games aren’t prohibited by state law, he said.
“Poker is specifically prohibited in Idaho,” said Anderson, noting that a Boise man recently was arrested for running an illegal card room.
Last week, Anderson sent a letter to the National Indian Gaming Commission asking it to weigh in. The commission regulates gaming that falls outside the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s compact with the state, which covers slot machines, Anderson said.
The situation is somewhat unusual, according to Eric Shepard, the Indian gaming commission’s acting general counsel, who said he’s not aware of parallel incidents in other states.
