Bingo not just fun and games

It may be an innocent game of bingo at the local church hall, but it's being watched by the state. Closely.

Charitable gaming, the most innocuous subcategory of gambling regulated by the state Division of Special Revenue, includes bingo, sealed-ticket machines, even cow chip raffles. And for many nonprofits and service organizations, this type of revenue generator is a lifeline, especially during dark economic times. And usually it is a perfectly innocent combination of a social event and a fundraiser.

But with the prospect of bringing in tens of thousands of dollars in revenue comes the possibility that someone will take advantage of the system and seek to pocket some of the money.

Last week, the state acknowledged that it is investigating the West Haven Elks Lodge for possible stolen gaming money. The man in charge of the sealed-ticket machine at that lodge, West Haven Board of Education member Andrew DePalma, is on the hot seat in the investigation.

That's why the activity is so heavily regulated, says Paul Young, executive director of the Division of Special Revenue. But he said misuse or theft of charitable gaming money is not that common.

"Given the large number of not-for-profit licenses out there, whether sealed tickets or bingo or raffles, I would say it doesn't happen that often," Young said.

Charitable gaming goes back decades in the state and regulations regarding it have evolved over the years as the games have evolved. The most profitable of the games is bingo, which can generate up to a couple hundred thousand dollars for a given organization, Young says.

Many local bingo games are much smaller but still bring in enough revenue to offer a worthwhile boost to churches, veterans groups and service clubs.

"It's what keeps us going," says Carl Carangelo, the man in charge of bingo for the Knights of Columbus Council 3928 in Guilford.

Carangelo's bingo is a popular one, drawing 90 to 120 people on any given Monday. He says the atmosphere is lively, with mostly seniors scouting several bingo cards and keeping a watchful eye on any one of four closed-circuit television monitors in the main hall.

Carangelo said his bingo program offers the maximum amount of prizes allowed by the state. He runs a winner-takes-all game, a bonanza game and the always popular progressive bingo game, which can accumulate a prize pot worth about $2,000. Tonight, Carangelo said, they will be giving away 10 turkeys.

"It's a social thing. You can win money too, but it's a social thing," he said.

FROG RACE RAFFLES

The state has strict rules governing charitable gaming activities. Proceeds from sealed-ticket machines must be kept in a separate bank account and must not be commingled with other funds. Records from the sale of sealed tickets must be kept for a minimum of five years.

But the laws reach beyond bingo and sealed tickets. For example, if an organization wants to have a duck race raffle or a cow chip raffle, there is a law for that and a corresponding license that is needed. The laws are so specific that when residents in Willimantic wanted to have a frog race raffle, instead of a duck race, to honor their beloved town mascot, they ran into a brick wall.

"Unless there is a specific law that authorizes it, you can't do it," Young said.

The residents overcame the obstacle by getting a law passed a few years ago to allow for frog race raffles.

The state used to permit another charitable gaming activity called "Las Vegas Nights," which enabled nonprofits to have fund-raisers involving poker games and blackjack. But the Las Vegas Nights law played a role in enabling the creation of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos, so the law was repealed in an attempt to prevent the creation of more tribal casinos in the state.

Now, it is illegal in Connecticut to have a poker game or a blackjack game outside of either of the two casinos.

Obviously, a game of poker among friends in the privacy of a home is going to be overlooked by state regulators. "You begin to break the law if you say the house is going to get 10 percent," Young warned.

Profits for organizations using charitable gaming fund-raisers peaked in 1993 at $20 million but steadily declined from that point on. The reason, according to Young, is twofold. First, with the advent of the tribal casinos, bingo players started abandoning small-time church and service club bingo in favor of high-stakes bingo at the casinos. The eastern part of the state, where the casinos are located, was hit particularly hard.

Second, in the late 1990s when the law enabling Las Vegas Nights was repealed, charitable gaming revenues dropped again.

Last year, nonprofit organizations and churches generated only $15.3 million in profits.

Fred McCarthy, commander of the American Legion Post 88 in Hamden, said the sealed-ticket machine has become an increasingly important source of revenue for the post in recent years.

"We used to rely heavily on outside sources and donations, and since that has dried up with the economy the way it is, the sealed-ticket machines play an important role in our existence," he said.

Still, most of the post's money comes from membership fees. Funds raised by his organization end up supporting nonprofits like the Errera Community Care Center at the Veterans Affairs medical center in West Haven and the Wounded Warrior Project.

For Dale Bruckhart, who runs bingo for St. Aedan and St. Brendan Roman Catholic churches in New Haven, the challenge is finding ways to keep bingo alive. A major money-maker for the churches and the parish school, bingo can bring in $20,000 a year.

"We need to find some way to attract younger players," he said. "We put some stuff up on the Web site. We have tried to put mailers out in the neighborhood."

But to no avail. The Wednesday-evening bingo game currently draws a crowd of about 65 people, or, if the jackpot is big, as many as 140 people.

Bruckhart isn't thrilled about having to create and submit a report to the state within 10 days of every bingo game, but the law is the law and he abides.

"It does take a tremendous amount of time. Thank God we have a lot of volunteers," he said.

"If you want to run a legal bingo, you have to follow the law," he said.

Abbe Smith can be reached at asmith@nhregister.com JIMMY MCNULTY - you know Jimmmy, he's from the Western District, feels that these forms of gambling should be left up to the Mashentucket Pequod Nation, the folks that brought Schmutzin and Michael Buble to Connecticut. They should be subcontacted. There would be no nonsence then. Jimmy is a real police. Tru dat. Mos def. "

The State wants to have an exclusive monopoly on ripping us off. It's OK as long as it's the State doing it, but if anyone else does it, they're criminals. "



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