MPBN: Maine tribes support bill for electronic beano games

Tuesday, February 12, 2013  

'Native American tribes in Maine are hoping to hold on to a gaming niche by modernizing and expanding beano. A proposed bill would allow all five tribes to operate electronic high stakes beano, where players can opt to compete at terminals connected to a computer instead of with a piece of paper and plastic chips. Tribe officials say as Maine has ushered in other gaming over the years, they've simultaneously left the wants and needs of the tribes behind. Patty Wight reports.

If there's one thing that Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis wants to make clear, it's that this bill has nothing to do with casinos. This is just about beano. It would remove current restrictions on the number of times tribes can offer high stakes beano games. Perhaps more significantly, it would allow all Maine tribes to offer electronic high stakes beano. Right now only one tribe, the Passamaquoddy, has that authority.

"The critics are quick to say, 'Well, this is a back door into slot machines,' for example," Francis says, "and nothing really could be further from the truth.""

Get the Story:
Maine Tribes Propose Beano Expansion (MBPN 2/11)