Bingo Rules Called Too Complex State Of Idaho Takes 28 Pages To Cover Game’s Regulations

Parker Brothers needed only an index card to spell out the rules for bingo. The state of Idaho took up 28 pages to do the same for the 150 charities and non-profit organizations that operate bingo games.

Last year, those games generated $6 million in sales.

Violating the regulations, which took effect July 1, carries a fine of up to $10,000. Lawmakers will decide in January whether to approve permanent rules or modify them.

They are likely to get a flood of comments by then. Bingo operators - and even some legislative staffers - say the state Lottery Commission went too far.

“There are some very dumb and stupid people trying to micromanage bingo out of existence,” said Hal Franck of Mountain Home. He manages the National Defense Veterans Foundation, which runs bingo games on Saturdays and Sundays.

But the state lottery’s chief investigator, Pat Stewart, said bingo operators and the six-member Bingo Advisory Board support the regulations.

“It’s not as simple as it sounds,” Stewart said. “Since we were given authority to regulate, it’s been a challenge, at best, to work with all these organizations and try to resolve all of their concerns.”

Voters amended the Idaho Constitution in 1992 to prohibit most forms of gambling on the state’s Indian reservations. But federal law gave tribes the authority to run bingo games, so the new amendment extended that right to charities.

The following year, lawmakers designated the state lottery as the agency responsible for regulating raffles and bingo. But the law said nothing about so-called “Calcuttas,” also known as auction pools. They involve wagering on events such as golf matches. Nonetheless, the new regulations outlaw Calcuttas.

Mike Nugent, who supervises research and bill drafting for the Legislature, said the commission overstepped its authority.

“It seems to us that if a Calcutta is going to be illegal and a crime, it should be drafted and passed by the Legislature and not by the commission as a form of rule,” Nugent said.

Besides, many of the rules are either so vague or duplicative of state or federal law that Nugent said he has trouble understanding their intent.

Franck is convinced the Lottery Commission went out of its way to make it difficult for charities to operate bingo because the games compete with its own scratch tickets and other games.

But Stewart said the regulations were designed to be flexible.

“We’re dealing with 150 organizations statewide,” he said.

“Each one of them conducts their games a little differently and we feel it’s up to them to determine what games they want to play as long as it’s within the guide of the statute.”