Reduced poker shares opposed by lottery

Reduced poker shares opposed by lottery Lawmakers were urged Monday not to reduce a limit on how much money bars, taverns and other video poker outlets can make from gambling. At the same hearing, horse racing representatives asked legislators to boost the number of the state lottery's video poker machines allowed at the Portland Meadows track from 10 to 50. The House Revenue Committee is considering the race track bill as well as a measure to shave — from 60 percent to 50 percent — the maximum share of business income that establishments that offer video poker can make from lottery games. Lottery Director Dale Penn told the committee that cutting the poker-income limit could throw out of whack the lottery's revenue estimates for the 2005-07 budget. Penn said Gov. Ted Kulongoski's budget is based on the lottery increasing its revenue by 22 percent, mostly by offering slot-machine type games on the poker terminals. Lowering the share of overall income that retailers can make from poker commissions would likely result in less revenue for the more than 50 outlets that make more than half their income from lottery games. The Lottery Commission set the 60 percent threshold after the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in 1994 that a constitutional ban on the state operating "casinos" means establishments can't have gambling as their dominant use. Rep. John Lim, R-Gresham, a longtime gambling critic, proposed reducing the income limit to 50 percent. Penn said audits of 2,200 poker retailers over the years turned up just 33 that violated the 60 percent limit. Retailers in such cases are given a period of time to comply with the rule or lose their games. Meanwhile, horse racing lobbyists said racing at Portland Meadows likely will fold without state help. The track is operated by Canadian-based Magna Entertainment Corp., which has ended dog racing at the Multnomah Kennel Club track near Gresham. Horse racing accounts for 3,000 jobs and an estimated $150 million in annual income in Oregon, said Larry Campbell, a lobbyist for Magna. He said raising the limit on the number of video poker machines at the track from 10 to 50 could generate an additional $500,000 a year for operations and prize purses for races. Though hurt nationwide by expanded gambling of other types, racing has rebounded in places where more video gambling has been permitted, said Dave Nelson, a lobbyist for Portland Meadows and the Oregon Quarterhorse Racing Association. "The state has kept its foot on racing while expanding video games," Nelson said. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, which operates Spirit Mountain Casino, and horse racing operators are considering a joint effort to build the state's largest casino at the racetrack