'Excellent attendance' reported at 19th GIA convention
Fun and Games
Over 60 licensees and guests attended the 19th Gaming Industry
Association of Montana annual meeting and convention at the Hilton
Garden Hotel in Missoula May 19-20. GIA Executive Director Neil
Peterson termed the turnout "excellent."
The group discussed
organization business, the past legislative session and the work of the
Gaming Advisory Council, but not before conducting a trade show, a
social and a hotly contested poker tournament.
The event
kicked-off with the preliminary rounds of the Texas Hold 'Em tournament
Tuesday, May 19 at 1:30 p.m. Four tables of eight players commenced
play but that was whittled down to the final eight by late afternoon,
just in time for players to freshen up in their rooms before the 6 p.m.
evening social and trade show.
All five of Montana's major licensed gaming machine manufacturers were
on hand to demonstrate their latest offerings and even some that have
yet to be submitted to Gambling Control for approval.
Summit
Gaming, Montana's market leader, was there as was the newest
manufacturer, Grand Vision Gaming, whose innovative machine is nearing
submission.
Fleetwood Gaming was showing its latest software
upgrades for the Brilliant Bet and Casino King platforms and Spielo
Gaming had it's brand new machine on the floor with its retro Art Deco
cabinet and big dual-screen format. IGT was showing its just approved
and long awaited new game suite, too.
Plenty of delicious
appetizers, snacks and buffet food was arrayed about the trade show
area on several tables. A full bar was a popular gathering place where
many enjoyed cold beverages and warm conversation.
But things
got a little more serious when the final eight poker players took their
seats, several of them previous champions.
These players were
intent on one thing: winning. Their cautious and conservative play saw
seven players still in the running when this writer retired at 10 p.m.
Morning's light revealed Pat Rabold, Fleetwood Gaming general manager,
crowned the 2009 GIA tournament champion, earning $3,900 for his
apparently tenacious and sagacious play.
Runner up was Century Gaming's Steve Arntzen who pocketed $1,900, followed by past champion Sandy Jones who won $700.
Altogether, the tournament netted GIA over $8,000 in entry fees,
additional buy-ins, proceeds from a separate cash game and sold
calcutta tickets. That's a win/win as even those who went out early
said they'd enjoyed themselves thoroughly.
Down to business
Breakfast was served buffet style the next morning after which the GIA
membership got down to business. President John Tooke gaveled the
meeting to order promptly at 9 a.m., dispatching formalities quickly
before introducing new topics.
Board member Tim Carson was asked
to recap the meeting of the Gaming Advisory Council (GAC) which took
place at the same location the day before. Carson is an industry
representative on the council.
Carson said the council had been
asked at its previous meeting to solicit ideas to place on the GAC
agenda for the coming year. Among them were: increasing the limits for
live poker, live keno and bingo.
Carson noted a GAC
subcommittee had spent 18 months working up a bill to update live poker
rules back in 2005-2006, but that statutory changes ultimately fell
short of the committee's objectives, including increasing pot limits.
Carson told members the GAC was reproducing and distributing the
working papers from the subcommittee's original efforts in order to
refresh the deliberations, and that the council would take the matter
up at it's next meeting. He noted impediments last time around are
likely still in place.
Member Kent Frampton said tournament
formats could still be improved and advocated any GAC examination of
poker should include that.
Live keno and bingo continue to
decline in Montana and have for the last decade, and so at least one
bingo licensee, Mark Ehli of Billings, has been seeking variations to
keep the game fresh and attract customers, now including increasing pot
limits.
The legislature did pass a law in the 2009 session to
allow more variety in bingo card and game formats, but Ehli said the
much higher limits offered by Indian bingo games are providing stiff
competition for non-tribal operations, so asked that higher limits be
considered. The GAC has requested The Gambling Control Division prepare
a white paper on the subject to be presented at its next meeting.
Another item that will be on the next GAC meeting agenda October 23,
Carson told the group, was allowing bill acceptors to conform to
configurations common in other jurisdictions such as allowing the
capability of reading all common bill denominations including the $50
and $100 bills.
Carson said the current bill acceptors are already equipped to do this but the capability has been disabled.
He also said some machine operating software communicates directly
with bill acceptors and in those cases VGM software would have to be
updated.
Carson noted that with any change there are many
factors both pro and con to be considered. The group discussed these
factors in detail and decided not to adopt a position on the matter and
to gather more information before deciding to support or reject the
idea.
Carson said the GAC had spent some time discussing one
portion of Senate Bill 86 that was meant to prohibit licensees from
providing cash to a customer to gamble by accepting a credit card. He
said some are concerned the law could be interpreted to prohibit
customers from using charge cards in ATM machines as is now common, if
any of the cash received was spent on gambling.
Carson said,
concluding his report, the GAC had been assured by Gambling Control
Acting Administrator Rick Ask that credit card abuses, not ATM
machines, were the target of the legislation, and that rules could be
written to conform with that legislative intent.
Next, GIA
Executive Director Neil Peterson led the membership in a discussion of
the past legislative session, covering bills that passed and those that
failed.
He explained a bill that had passed which allowed an
alternative penalty schedule for a violation for serving the under-aged
if a licensee had certifiably trained his servers. Another bill will
raise foodservice inspection fees $25, but keeps the rates set in
statute rather than through rule, he said.
Peterson and the GIA
also discussed a host of other legislation that is covered elsewhere in
this edition in the Montana Tavern Association Legislative and Gambling
Committee meeting report.
Peterson pointed out to the membership
that 15 Senators and 15 Representatives will be leaving their offices
due to term limits, so grassroots recruiting and relationship-building
with new candidates was a high organization priority.
The board
voted on and approved a proposed dues structure and bylaws changes,
then reviewed financial statements and budgets which, Peterson said,
were tracking as expected.
After lunch, Peterson gave the board
a demonstration of the group's new web site which can be found at
<www.mtgia.org>.
Peterson said there was no word as yet on Atty. Gen. Steve Bullock's choice to head the Gambling Control Division.
He added that Acting Administrator Rick Ask had been filling the role capably and commendably.
Peterson said he believes Atty. Gen. Bullock wants to move forward
with streamlining the liquor/gaming license amendment process in cases
where there is no new party to the license, which has been an industry
objective for several years.
Discussion then turned to the
pending Oct. 1 indoor smoking ban and the board subsequently approved a
resolution to "support compliance." The board was also told health
department officials are exploring implementation strategies and that
an information packet may be sent to licensees in the future.
Acting GIA President John Tooke was elected president, Stuart Ellison
was elected vice-president and Mark Ehli was chosen treasurer.
The board then set its next meeting in Helena Wednesday, Aug. 26, and
set its next convention for May of 2010 in Billings with exact dates to
be announced later.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, May 2009, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W Granite, Suite 102, Butte MT. 59701