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Indian gaming suit targets Arizona poker houses

TUCSON — The Pascua Yaqui Tribe is asking a judge to shut down a small chain of off-the-reservation poker houses. Otherwise, the tribe could give Arizona a smaller cut of its casino revenues under the state’s Indian gaming compact.

The tribe has about 3,000 members whose capital sits about 15 miles southwest of Tucson. It was formed in 1978 and enjoys a historic tribe status and gaming privileges under Arizona’s Indian gaming compact.

That deal does not allow unregulated gaming (including poker) on Indian lands. The tribe is asking the judge to apply that to unregulated gaming off tribal lands throughout Arizona in a case against the International Card and Game Players Association, a nonprofit.

The tribe is suing the association and its owners and franchisees based on an undercover operation it conducted at a Tucson poker club called Club Royale in July. Its lawyers hired a former sergeant from the Arizona Department of Public Safety to check it out.

Based on that visit, the tribe discovered that Club Royale was charging prospective players $20 per year to become a member of the nonprofit. This was also the price of admission to the club.

Then club owners charge players up to $3 for a "button fee," where players pay to play before any bets, antes or blinds are placed and before the cards are dealt. After paying these fees, players are then allowed to participate in various games, including $1/$2 Texas Hold ‘Em, according to the complaint.

The dealers receive 100 percent of their pay from tips, the complaint says, alleging that the club is not properly withholding state and federal income taxes.

Publicly, however, club owners have told a different story. In a letter to Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon in May, they wrote that the club is a place where poker fans can unite against "the abuse and ignorance that is impiging on our freedoms and liberties." The call-to-arms also mentioned the club’s commitment to building one house per year for Habitat for Humanity, and asked Gordon to be an honorary card room manager at a fundraiser.

Yet the Pascua Yaqui Tribe claims the essence of the operation does not square with Arizona’s definition of regulated gambling. It is asking Pima County Superior Court Judge Leslie Miller to intervene, adding that a decision against the tribe would allow it to reduce Arizona’s cut of gaming revenues.

Tucson lawyers Timothy M. Medcoff and Luis A. Ochoa are representing the tribe.