Retroactive rules aimed at Dotty’s are anti-business, anti-woman

"Sometimes, no sex sells," Patty Becker informed the all-male Nevada Gaming Commission during a feisty but failed attempt to block a regulation change that slams Dotty's taverns where it hurts -- in the pocketbook.

The 40- to 60-year-old women who are the Dotty's customer base don't really want provocative barmaids, loud TV s blaring or dart games. They're not there to shoot pool and talk sports. Sports bar amenities aren't what these women want, said Becker, a consultant for Dotty's Gaming & Spirits.

These women prefer to gamble and smoke in a place designed like grandma's kitchen with soft music, knick-knacks, easy parking and decent lighting. A place they feel safe, where no one is trying to pick them up or harass them. A place where they can sit before a slant-top-style slot machine, feet planted firmly on the floor, not dangling from a high bar stool.

But thanks to four gaming commissioners -- Tony Alamo Jr., John Moran Jr., Joe Brown and Randolph Townsend -- to stay open, all those Dotty's-style taverns approved since Feb. 1, 2000, must add a bar with nine seats, which is more expensive than it sounds. Dotty's estimates it will cost $6 million to renovate 50 Dotty's that would require retrofitting.

For a new tavern to qualify for a restricted gaming license that permits up to 15 slot machines, the state now says the business must have 2,000 square feet, a kitchen that's open 12 hours a day and the all-important bar seating nine.

Commission Chairman Pete Bernhard fought the regulation changes pushed by the Nevada Resort Association, saying the regulations would be a hardship for operations in rural Nevada, though waivers are possible.

In an edgy exchange with association attorney Todd Bice, Bernhard asked, "Tell me, what is the public problem the Dotty's-style model has caused?"

Bice answered that Dotty's is paying lower taxes to the state because it's not a real tavern; it's a slot arcade. "That's how the state and taxpayers have suffered."

However, because Dotty's pays the same slot tax based on number of machines as any other bar with slots and will pay the same under the new amendments to Regulation 3, that didn't sound like a major public problem.

There has been no public outcry over the Dotty's style of tavern. The squeals have come from local gaming companies, especially Station Casinos, which admits it does not like the competition from Dotty's and their ilk -- Molly's, Jackpot Joanies and Miz Lola's.

The exchanges between Bernhard and Bice were tame compared with the response Becker received when she said the commissioners were treating the taverns that cater to women differently than the sports bars that cater to men.

"You're not suggesting we're discriminating," commission member Moran snapped.

Becker was careful in her answer. "No. I think it was unequal enforcement of regulations. You're envisioning a bar through your eyes."

Remember, this is the same Patty Becker, the first woman on Nevada's Gaming Control Board, who voted to boot Moran's father-in-law, the late Herb Tobman, out of the Stardust in 1984 because skimming continued when he and Al Sachs owned the well-skimmed property. They would probably disagree even if they were on the same side.

Alamo later told Becker, "It's always about legislative intent; it's not because it's not my kind of bar." Then he added this laugh-riot kicker: "There's no way I've tried to be discouraging to anybody."

Only Bernhard saw that new amendments including a retroactive component are going to discourage investors from putting money into a business where rules can change after the fact. His was the lone vote against the regulation amendments.

In my view, Pete Bernhard cast the only smart vote.

Somewhere, mobsters and cheats are laughing themselves silly at the thought of this being a big issue for Nevada gaming regulators appointed to protect the integrity of gambling.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Email her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.