HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – Gamblers and gamers could be allowed to play the dice game cee-lo in bars or restaurants that sell alcohol under a bill that’s moving through the Legislature.
Tim Pierce with the UM Legislative News Service reports Representative Ryan Lynch from Butte introduced House Bill 368 in the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee Friday.
Administrator of the Gabling Control Division Angela Nunn opposes the bill, saying it doesn’t offer tight enough restrictions on a game with varied rules and her department couldn’t help police cheating.
“I’ve heard of people losing $1,000 on one roll of the dice playing game. If someone were to complain to us of cheating or collusion, there’s an expectation that we would be there to assist them. The way this is drafted without regulatory controls, there would not be much we could do for them.”
But Lynch says the game, which can already be played privately, is friendly with generally low stakes and that regulation isn’t necessary.
“We hear about how the agency is overworked and underfunded, and yet we’re trying to increase our supervision and increase our bureaucratic overreach. At the end of the day, if someone wants to go to somebody’s house or if somebody wants to go to – God forbid – in a church basement and shake dice, they can now.”
The bill passed out of the House in February with a vote of 84-to-13.
