Minnesota Supreme Court to rule on whether card clubs can offer electronic table games
The Minnesota Supreme Court will now decide whether card clubs in the state can operate electronic blackjack, poker and baccarat tables from Interblock or if they violate the state’s deal with Native American tribes granting them exclusive rights to video games of chance.
Running Aces, which operates a casino and racetrack in Columbus, filed a lawsuit in the federal district court in April last year . It argued that under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 any gaming on Indian lands within Minnesota is subject to Minnesota gaming law unless it is conducted consistent with IGRA’s requirements. IGRA specifies that class III gaming activities—such as casino card games—are “lawful on Indian lands only if” Minnesota “permits such gaming for any purpose by any person” and such activities are “conducted in conformance” with a tribal-state gaming compact “that is in effect.”
Running Aces’ complaint alleges that defendants’ casinos have been conducting class III casino card games that were not authorized by any gaming compact between the State and the Mille Lacs or the Prairie Island. Therefore, these activities constitute gambling “in violation of Minnesota criminal law and federal law,” and those violations in turn form the basis for defendants’ violations of RICO.
Running Aces’ casino lawfully offers various common casino card games, such as blackjack, Three Card Poker, and Ultimate Texas Hold’Em. By offering the same and similar card games illegally, defendants casinos’ have gained “illegal and unfair competitive advantages over Running Aces,” to the detriment of Running Aces’ business, the complaint alleges.
Running Aces has filed this lawsuit to recover damages from the high-level executives and managers who are responsible for these illegal gambling activities. Running Aces also seeks an injunction against these illegal gambling activities in the future.
However, in March this year, US District Court Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz dismissed the case.
He said: “Even if Running Aces’s claims have merit, the remaining factors, especially the Tribes’ sovereign immunity and the magnitude of the prejudice that the Tribes could suffer from a judgment entered in this case, weigh in favour of dismissal. Indeed, courts frequently find that an absent tribe’s sovereign immunity outweighs the plaintiff’s lack of an alternative forum.”
“As noted, the gaming that is challenged in this lawsuit is of enormous economic importance to the absent Tribes, and protecting the economic sustainability of tribes is a primary goal of IGRA specifically and federal Indian policy generally. The Court therefore has little trouble concluding that the Tribes’ interests in protecting a critical source of funds and jobs outweigh Running Aces’s interest in a forum for its claims of competitive injury.”
With the case now in front of the Supreme Court, Evan Nelson, attorney for Running Aces, said: “The community and Running Aces are competitors on equal footing to offer card playing gambling. While theoretically, if more people go to Running Aces for card playing, fewer will go to the community, there is no evidence that this is the case.”
Whilst Running Aces is a card club, it is not allowed to operate gambling devices due to agreements between the state and the 11 federally recognised tribes in Minnesota.
Josh Peterson, who represented the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, which runs the Mystic Lake casino, said: “The implementation of these games in the metropolitan area takes different customers from the casinos,.”
They claim that the addition of electronic tables exceeds the 80-table limit placed on card clubs.
The Minnesota Racing Commission approved Running Aces proposal to change its floor plan to add an additional electronic dealer in 2023.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that the commission hadn’t overstepped its authority in allowing the card club’s plan.
Josh Peterson, an assistant Minnesota attorney general who represented the commission, said: “The only real issue before the commission was whether the new floor plan exceeded the statutory limit on the number of tables used for card playing at a card club.”
Taro Ito, President & CEO of Running Aces, said: “All that we have ever sought was to be treated fairly, compete on a level playing field, take advantage of improvements within the pari-mutuel environment, and operate without fear of being eliminated. It is our sincere desire to let the facts determine the outcome.”
