A Boom in Bar Bingo Machines Raises Legal Questions in S.Md.

After seeing that other nonprofit organizations were cashing in, the Leonardtown Volunteer Fire Department and the Volunteer Rescue Squad each set up five machines at Coles Point Tavern, said Thomas A. Mattingly Sr., a longtime fire department volunteer and a county commissioner.

The tavern is on a pier off Virginia, in Maryland waters in the Potomac River. To satisfy a legal requirement that the nonprofit group "manage the operation" of the machines, department and squad members arrive once a month, sometimes by boat, to collect the proceeds, Mattingly (D-Leonardtown) said.

The fire department generally gets between 30 and 35 percent of the money, Mattingly said. Frank Moran and Sons, the Baltimore gaming company that owns the machines, takes about 60 percent, and the bar takes 5 to 10 percent, he said.

Bruce C. Bereano, a lobbyist for the company, said Frank Moran and Sons is paid a fixed amount for each round of play rather than a percentage. He declined to disclose the amount of the payment.

Mattingly said the fire department hopes the gaming income will replace the $60,000 it used to make at an annual carnival that, because of a volunteer shortage, is no longer held.

"We really couldn't find another way to replace that revenue without going to taxpayers," he said. "There are downsides to gambling, but people are going to gamble."

Danny Bowles, president of the rescue squad, declined to detail the squad's arrangement. Tavern owner Scott Rudge declined to discuss either arrangement.

St. Mary's Landing, a Charlotte Hall restaurant known for softball-size crab cakes, added video bingo machines in November. Owners Billy and Mona Hill ripped out a few booths to construct a game room with eight machines in January, and they opened a room with 12 more this month, bringing the restaurant's total to 35, Mona Hill said.

She said her husband got the idea from the Brass Rail. The Rotary Club and two churches are among the nonprofit organizations that receive a portion of the take from the machines at the restaurant, she said. Billy Hill did not respond to requests to describe the arrangements in more detail.

"The bad thing is, you can't go there to eat anymore because the parking lot is full of cars," said Rick Gentry, who was once a frequent patron at the restaurant. "I guess it helps the local economy and all. I just don't go there anymore."

In video bingo, players generally insert cash into a machine in exchange for one or more pull-tab cards, slips of paper with a printed grid of cherries, oranges or other icons. Players win if the icons on their card are lined up in certain combinations. The result also appears on a screen, giving the player the sensation of playing a slot machine.

But whereas casino-style slot machines are games of pure chance, video bingo machines have a preset number of winners and losers. Also, rather than a payout from the machine, players receive a coupon they can exchange for cash.