Electronic Bingo Showdown
There’s a new development in the showdown between Alabama Governor Bob Riley and the state’s casino owners over electronic bingo machines. A judge will conduct a hearing next week on issues surrounding the closed Country Crossing casino in Dothan. Part of the debate is whether electronic bingo machines are allowed under state law. Riley says they’re illegal slot machines. Casino owners insist they are perfectly legal. The face-off has prompted early morning raids of some high profile casinos. And as WBHM’s Andrew Yeager report, many other operations have shutdown to avoid such a clash.
Bamaco Bingo in Fairfield is closed right now. But last week, on the eve of being closed, the place was going strong with 1,800 electronic bingo machines. Half of the dozen or so players I talk to don’t want to be interviewed. One’s a church deacon. Another says his wife doesn’t know he’s there. But Ronnie Williams has no inhibition. He sits in front of a game called Lucky Duck tapping the button every few seconds to keep play going.
“Do you do pretty good?”
“No. [laugh]”
“So why do you keep coming back?”
“Something to do. Pass the time. Having fun.”
On the screen, symbols scroll vertically. It looks like a slot machine, although Williams points to a small bingo card in the corner of the screen. Casino operators insist it is bingo and it is legal. Mark White is an attorney for VictoryLand, the state’s largest casino. He says VictoryLand was operating legally and the governor’s raids are a draconian tactic.
“They won’t go to court and have a trial and let a judge or jury make that decision. They want to do millions of dollars of damage without court process.”
But the governor’s policy director Bryan Taylor says the Alabama Supreme Court has already ruled twice that these machines are not legal. The governor is just enforcing the law. Casino owners have also cried foul because these raids have been conducted without search warrants. The state’s Republican Attorney General Troy King in fact sent a letter to fellow Republican Governor Bob Riley questioning the lack of search warrants. King declined to comment for this story. Bryan Taylor with the governor’s office says there’s no problem with the methods.
“If you were to see somebody using an illegal drug in the corner of a bar, an officer doesn’t have to leave, go get a judge, go get a warrant and serve that warrant on the individual. The officer can seize the illegal drugs right then and there. And that was the circumstance in this case.”
Joe Lester teaches law at Faulkner University in Montgomery. He says there’s nothing inherently wrong with conducting the raids without a search warrant, as long as there’s probable cause. But given the attention they generate with more than 100 state troopers pulling into a casino in the wee hours of the morning, he says it’s probably better to have one.
There are a lot of murky legal questions in this fight. In Alabama bingo operations are authorized under state constitutional amendments affecting individual counties. So the rules vary depending on location. Joe Lester says there’s yet to be a case where the Alabama Supreme Court could apply a ruling statewide.
“I would say right now they both have legitimate claims to make. I don’t think any side is in any better position than the other.”
Back at Bamaco Bingo, Kathleen Owen splits no hairs over the definition of bingo versus electronic bingo.
“Hell no, I ain’t playing the same game. Does that look like card bingo to you with a dauber?”
But Owen doesn’t care. She thinks the government should stay out of it. But with escalating rhetoric on both sides, don’t bet on that happening anytime soon.
How George Wallace and Bull Connor set the stage for Alabama’s sky-high electric rates
After his notorious stand in the schoolhouse door, Wallace needed a new target. He found it in Alabama Power.
FIFA president defends World Cup ticket prices, saying demand is hitting records
The FIFA President addressed outrage over ticket prices for the World Cup by pointing to record demand and reiterating that most of the proceeds will help support soccer around the world.
From chess to a medical mystery: Great global reads from 2025 you may have missed
We published hundreds of stories on global health and development each year. Some are ... alas ... a bit underappreciated by readers. We've asked our staff for their favorite overlooked posts of 2025.
The U.S. offers Ukraine a 15-year security guarantee for now, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday the United States is offering his country security guarantees for a period of 15 years as part of a proposed peace plan.
Electric vehicles had a bumpy road in 2025 — and one pleasant surprise
A suite of pro-EV federal policies have been reversed. Well-known vehicles have been discontinued. Sales plummeted. But interest is holding steady.
A ‘very aesthetic person,’ President Trump says being a builder is his second job
President Trump was a builder before he took office, but he has continued it as a hobby in the White House.
