Country Crossing opens, bingo questions abound

Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes isn’t interested in having a conversation about whether electronic bingo should be legal.

He is interested in trying to determine whether the electronic bingo games being played today at Country Crossing are legal under the new definition of bingo established by the Alabama Supreme Court, a definition that becomes binding today. And while Hughes said the court’s definition was an improvement over the hodgepodge laws and baffling language that dealt with bingo previously, it leaves enough room for plenty of wiggling.

Hughes said law enforcement has been invited to a demonstration of the bingo machines at Country Crossing today before the facility opens to the public. But Hughes said unless he or his deputies can identify an unequivocal violation of law, he will proceed with a “wait and see” approach.

“I’m not a supreme court justice or an attorney,” Hughes said. “We’re going to try to wait for some guidance.”

Hughes said he believes the best way to deal with the issue is through a state referendum. Then, if approved by the voters, legality issues should be handled through a state gaming commission.

Attorney General Troy King has urged sheriffs and district attorneys in counties that have bingo amendments to enforce the law. A call to district attorney Doug Valeska was not returned.

The Alabama Supreme Court’s definition of bingo is as follows:

1. Each player uses one or more cards with spaces arranged in five columns and five rows, with an alphanumeric or similar designation assigned to each space.
2. Alphanumeric or similar designations are randomly drawn and announced one by one.
3. In order to play, each player must pay attention to the values announced; if one of the values matches a value on one or more of the player’s cards, the player must physically act by marking his or her card accordingly.
4. A player can fail to pay proper attention or to properly mark his or her card, and thereby miss an opportunity to be declared a winner.
5. A player must recognize that his or her card has a ‘bingo,’ i.e., a predetermined pattern of matching values, and in turn announce to the other players and the announcer that this is the case before any other player does so.
6. The game of bingo contemplates a group activity in which multiple players compete against each other to be the first to properly mark a card with the predetermined winning pattern and announce that fact.”

Many believe the definition still raises questions not easily answered. Can a “card” be simulated on a computer screen? Can a bingo “announcer” be a computer server that distributes numbers to the bingo machines? Can a player “mark” his or her card by touching the letters or numbers on a screen? Can a player “announce” bingo to the announcer and other players by prompting the machine to do the announcing?

Meanwhile, Country Crossing officials will hold a press conference today at 1:30 p.m., 90 minutes before the facility opens to the public. Celebrities scheduled to be on hand for the press conference are Randy Owen, Lorrie Morgan, John Anderson, Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson, Bo Bice and the Grascals. A formal grand opening is set for early next year.

Todd Stacy, spokesperson for Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, said nothing has changed concerning Riley’s stance on Country Crossing.

“I think we’ve been pretty clear from the beginning,” Stacy said. “As long as they are not breaking the law, they have nothing to worry about. We have read press reports where they say their machines will comply with the Supreme Court’s strict definition of bingo. If that is the case, again, there is nothing to worry about.”