Mars Plays By The Rules
It just doesn’t seem legal.
But gambling at the Mars Hotel follows the law, and the four blackjack tables shoehorned into the Ugly Rumors Lounge are just the beginning.
Washington state law allows card room licenses for blackjack and poker. Card rooms aren’t legal in Idaho.
In Spokane County, card games are also open at The Eleventh Frame, the Scrapbook Restaurant, The Shed Restaurant and Little Joe’s Tavern. The only other one of the 90 state-licensed card rooms in the area is at Players Card Room in Pullman.
The businesses are allowed to have up to five card tables and charge up to $3 per half-hour of play.
Soon, they’ll be allowed much more.
One of the Mars Hotel Corp. owners led a movement to change state law in March, paving the way for bigger and more competitive card rooms.
The law, which went into effect June 6, increases the maximum number of blackjack tables from five to 15. It also allows card room operators to profit from a slice of the bank, instead of charging for playing time. The Mars is working on a contract with the Washington State Gambling Commission that would allow it to do both.
“Whether somebody is for gambling or against gambling, the one thing I hear over and over again from people is they don’t understand why just one race of people can participate in gaming,” said Robert Saucier, chief executive officer of the Mars Hotel Corp., who helped write the new law. “They don’t understand why the tribes can do it, and nobody else.”
Both Saucier and partner Billy Anders say the law doesn’t level the gambling field, but it tilts it more favorably.
The law means more grandiose plans from the owners, who are drawing up blueprints for a casino five times the size of the one cloistered in Ugly Rumors. Saucier and Anders plan for 15 tables. They hope for video slot machines that pay off in receipts that can be exchanged for cash.
The casino, dubbed “Casino Royale,” will also feature the hotel’s total entertainment approach, with a wine cellar, a cigar humidor and a new nearby bar.
Owners aren’t saying what percentage of the bank they plan to request from the Washington State Gambling Commission. Players now provide the bank money for the tables to operate.
“We’re still at a huge disadvantage,” Saucier said. “Tribes don’t have to charge, because they’re banking the game. It gets to the point, how much can you really charge?”
Neither owner is saying how much the business has made on gambling so far from the $3 per half-hour fee. The first quarterly report is due to the Gambling Commission at the end of July. , DataTimes