Poker News

I. Nelson Rose

This is the story of a casino that will never exist. In the computer industry, when a company announces that it is developing some great new software, but nothing is ever actually produced, they call it vaporware. In the gaming industry, we have vaporcasinos.

OnJuly 28, 2007, the Los Angeles Times ran an article entitled “Tribe Proposes a Casino in Garden Grove.” The reporter, Dave McKibben, did a good job of not only reporting the plan, but also of describing the problems the tribe, the Gabrielino- Tongva, faces.

The announcement was by Jonathan Stein, who, the article said, “identifies himself as the CEO of the tribe.” It’s not even clear that Stein represents the tribe, since it is splintered.

McKibben reports Frank Cardenas, an attorney for another faction, calls the casino plan “classic extravagance on the part of Mr. Stein.”

“History suggests this is a man who is all hat and no cattle.”

Great phrase. And probably, on the money.

The proposed billion dollar casino, with 7,500 slot machines-twice the size of the biggest casino in Las Vegas and a mile from Disneyland-would probably be one of the most successful casinos in the world. There are no Indian casinos or licensed card clubs in Orange County. The profits from this monopoly would be so great that Stein is promising a college scholarship for every high school graduate in the city.

There are only a few legal obstacles that have to be overcome:

1) The tribe does not have federal recognition, as required by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (”IGRA”).

2) The tribe does not have “Indian land,” as required by the IGRA.

3) The tribe does not have a compact with the state of California, as required by the IGRA.

The tribe has been trying to get federal recognition for many years. This is a process that takes decades, and there is certainly no guarantee that the federal government will ever consider them a real tribe.

Even federally recognized tribes have to have land taken into trust for a casino. This usually requires the governor’s approval. And Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has stated publicly and in writing that he will never approve new land for casinos in any of California’s urban areas.

And the required compact means that majorities of the California State Senate and Assembly also have to approve it.

Stein thinks none of this is a problem. He says that he merely needs the State Legislature to pass a “Gabrielino Gaming bill” and he can negotiate the compact with Gov. Schwarzenegger.

He’s even gotten an Assemblyman, Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana), to consider the bill. Unfortunately for Stein, that’s not the law. The California Constitution prohibits “casinos of the type currently operating in Nevada and New Jersey.” There is one exception: “federally recognized Indian tribes on Indian lands in California in accordance with federal law.” Oops. Any way you look at it, it still has to be a federally recognized tribe.

So, the card clubs in L.A., San Diego and other nearby counties do not have to worry about a new competitor opening with poker and blackjack and slot machines. And tribes running gaming to the east of Orange County won’t have a casino smack in the middle of their major market.

But for poker players in Orange County, it means they will still have to drive to get to a game.

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