Bingo on military bases raises legal issues
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Even though 147 people are at the club, there is a hush at Fort Shafter's Hale Ikena.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Bingo is about to begin.
Eleanora Cadinha of Kane'ohe flips through her game sheets as she prepares to play bingo at Fort Shafter. Players pay $19 for a dinner buffet and receive "free" packets allowing them to play six or more cards per game.
"From the B row, 10, Beeee 10," croons the caller in a Barry White-like voice.
There is next to no talking, and when a cell phone goes off, it draws a rebuke.
"If you have a cellular phone, please switch it to vibrate," the caller announces.
Base bingo is serious — and big in Hawai'i.
Thousands play bingo each week — sometimes several times a week — with prizes of hundreds of dollars and special nightly prizes of $1,000 or more.
Fort Shafter, Schofield Barracks, Wai'anae Army Recreation Center and the officers and enlisted clubs at Hickam all offer bingo. So does the Coast Guard.
How can that be? Hawai'i and Utah are the only states that prohibit all forms of gambling, bingo included.
Officials say the games comply because you don't have to buy anything to play. But that may not be clear to everyone.
Military concern over the legality of bingo led to a meeting in 2000 of the U.S. attorney's office, Honolulu Police Department, city prosecutor's office and military judge advocates.
Some assume a federal base operates under federal law. But Hickam officials said the base is subject to both state and federal jurisdiction.
Some Army and Air Force officials have said the "no purchase necessary to play" requirement was being met by providing a dinner buffet for about $20, and offering bingo for free — although extra cards could be obtained by purchasing multiple dinners or buying extra food items or cards outright.
The services now say their standing policy has been to give one free card per game, if requested, so the games are in compliance.
The Coast Guard, which has bingo on Saturday night for Club 14 patrons and their guests, follows a similar guideline, and its rules state that no purchase is necessary. The Navy and Marines in Hawai'i don't offer bingo.
Bingo players at Fort Shafter pay $19 for the buffet and get packets that allow them to play six or more cards per game. Proceeds pay for cash and other prizes.
Buying more than one dinner or other food item gets more cards, officials said, and some players have 18 cards going per game. Another $25 can be paid for cards to play in special games.
According to HPD narcotics, vice and gambling detail officer Randall Stovall, requiring the purchase of a dinner or anything else to play bingo is a violation of state law.
"We don't agree with that, because to make it legal, anybody is supposed to be able to enter that establishment, ask for a bingo card and not have to pay anything for it," Stovall said. Local law enforcement officials emphasized that at the 2000 meeting.
The Army said bingo rules — including notice of free bingo — are distributed at all three facilities, each of which offers bingo two to three times a week.
Some handouts at Fort Shafter previously carried no mention of free bingo, however. The Army recently acknowledged the omission and said it had been corrected. Fort Shafter also has started reading the rules before the games start.
Still, some participants at both Hickam and Fort Shafter say they were unaware bingo could be played for free. "Nobody ever tried it that I know of," said retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Mary Schumacher, 51, a former twice-weekly bingo player at Hickam.
Hickam spokesman 1st Lt. Paradon Silpasornprasit said that according to club management, "95 percent of the people who play bingo are regulars, and they know that they can get free cards."
The Morale, Welfare and Recreation bingo and buffet combination is a popular money maker for both the Army and Air Force. The Hickam buffets gross $575,000 per year, base officials estimated. As many as 150 people come out for each session, and the games include payouts of hundreds of dollars, a special progressive jackpot starting at $1,000, and the chance to win prizes such as a new motorcycle.
"Games night serves as a very strong morale builder for our troops and their families," the Air Force said.
The Army says bingo has been offered for more than 10 years, and is one of its more highly attended programs. Profits generated go back into MWR activities.
Players say the games are a relaxing way to spend a few hours. And the chance to win hundreds of dollars a game doesn't hurt.
The Coast Guard said military officials had reached an agreement with the state in 1994 that bingo games "are not considered gambling as long as we do not require money/consideration to play."
The games' popularity stands in contrast to efforts to rebuff casino gambling in Hawai'i, and Sen. Dan Inouye has spoken out against bingo. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, came out forcefully against legalized gambling last year at the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i's annual luncheon with military officials.
Inouye said he opposed exemptions to allow gambling on interisland cruise ships outside Hawai'i coastal waters.
"It starts that way: 'Bingo, that's all we want.' Get your foot in the door, and that's it — the beginning of the end," Inouye said.
Bingo operators off base have been prosecuted before. Former State Sen. James Aki was charged with promoting an illegal gambling activity by allowing a church tenant to run games on his Nanakuli property in 1994. He was granted a deferred acceptance of no contest, requiring terms similar to probation.
The Air Force said military bingo, and squaring it with Hawai'i state law, "has been a recurring issue with various downtown entities for years."
HPD says illegal gambling occurs when three elements are present: there is consideration, or an item of value is wagered; there is chance involved; and there is a reward or item of value is won.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
