Idaho Hypocritical On Lottery, Critic Says State Tolerates Cda Tribe’s National Lottery, But Not Casinos

The gaming manager for the ShoshoneBannock Tribes is questioning the state’s motives in not objecting to the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s planned national lottery.

Nathan Small maintains Idaho has not joined other states in trying to block the enterprise because it will be getting a share of the profits.

“It’s unfortunate that you have to buy a state to allow gaming,” Small said.

Small disputes claims the objecting states hold that buying tickets for the national lottery over the telephone with credit cards is illegal.

“You can call Nevada right now on the phone with a credit card” and put down bets on sporting events, he said.

But he charged that Idaho’s show of support for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe is hypocritical in light of its position on other Indian gaming issues.

The Shoshone-Bannocks have taken the state to court over what they claim is its refusal to negotiate a required gambling compact in good faith.

And Small argued that the state’s refusal to allow expanded gaming through casino-style electronic gambling machines on the reservations flies in the face of its handling of off-reservation activities.

“So we’re kind of sitting here in wonderment of what you can or can’t do,” Small said. “Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of casino nights are allowed by charitable organizations, and there are thousands of video poker machines in the state.”

The state Lottery Commission acknowledged that charities conduct casino nights and video poker and other electronic gambling machines are being use in establishments throughout the state.

But casino nights are legal if no prizes are involved, and video gambling devices can be legally used if they only pay off in additional games.

A lottery spokeswoman said there were about a dozen allegations of illegal use in the past year but none were substantiated, although she conceded that “under-the-table” payments to customers could be occurring without the knowledge of authorities - as they have occurred for years with pinball machines.

Small agrees that gambling is not the ultimate answer to reviving depressed reservation economies, but it does provide the kind of cash that tribes can use to develop other enterprises.

“We’ve got people with every skill here, but we don’t have the places to put their skills to work,” he said. “So they turn to alcohol and drugs. The social ills come with not having an economic base.”