The day started like all other Super Bowl Sundays — people coming in to watch the game, have some drinks and hope they win some money with their square in the pool.
It was another big American holiday, but this one, a few years ago at a bar in Lake County, left the bar owner wondering if he’d lose his bar. The problem was the pool. They are illegal in Indiana.
The owner, who asked that his name not be used, said he was walking out of his place to his car when he saw seven or eight Indiana Excise Police officers surrounding it “like Grant took Richmond in the Civil War.”
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They weren’t there for the chicken wings and a cold draft beer. It was the board.
The bar ran a Super Bowl pool. To play, a customer puts down an entry fee and signs his name on a square. A drawing picks numbers – zero to nine – that are placed across the top. A second drawing assigns numbers down one side. Teams also get the top or side placement.
Pools vary, but in general to win, a player must get the end number for both teams in the quarter, half, third quarter and final score.
On that day, though, the bar owner was more concerned about his future.
“They treated you like a hardened criminal,” he said. “They threatened the business, barked ‘Where’s the money?’ and told me they were going to take my house and my wife would be out on the street.
“It was the most devastating thing to happen to me in the (more than 30) years I’ve owned a business.”
Excise officers retrieved more than $200,000 made in bets from the owner — money from average people “just looking for a little action” that he ended up returning to them afer the state returned it to him. But his headache was just beginning.
He had to retain a local attorney to handle any state and federal charges to be leveled against his establishment. Then there was the Indianapolis attorney he hired to help him retain his liquor license and handle eany issues downstate.
When all was said and done, no indictments were ever brought, he said. For that, he was grateful, but the good news came at a personal cost of between $35,000 and $40,000 over the year it took to get the case settled.
“That was the worst thing for me because that meant I had to retract the amount of giving I could do to (various charities),” he said. “As a small business owner who gives back and not some corporate place like Applebee’s or Chili’s that don’t do nearly as much, that hurts the people in the community, and all because I ran a football pool.”
If the owner had his way, he would recommend the Indiana General Assembly amend the statute to allow bars to pay a fee for a license allowing football pools and other forms of gambling in bars and taverns. The legislature could set the terms of the license and put limits on the amount of money bars could charge for the games, for example.
Like that day a few years ago, the Indiana Excise Police also are preparing for one of their busiest days. Unauthorized gambling and underage revelers are as likely as a coin toss at mid-field.
Work starts days in advance for excise officers during Super Bowl weekend, said Indiana State Excise Police Cpl. Heather Lynch. Officers conduct investigations by their own initiative or are assigned complaints received from the public, she said.
“Excise officers work to ensure that alcoholic beverage permit locations comply with all alcoholic beverage, tobacco and gambling laws of the State of Indiana through diligent enforcement,” Lynch said via e-mail. “Violations for illegal gambling typically occur in the days leading up to larger sporting events, not only the day of the actual event.”
But for the Lake County bar owner, it’s an ordeal he’ll never forget, but one he’d like the Legislature to review.
“This state is running backwards,” he said. “We have a gaming license for pull-tabs, so what’s the difference for football pools or NASCAR pools?”
And the law would have to be fair across the board.
When Sunday comes, the owner’s bar will be open, but he knows it’ll be much quieter than in the past, and that’ll likely cost him more money. If the Excise Police visit, he said, they won’t find anything illegal.
“These are working-class people who want to have a little fun, not some high-level criminals. Who’re they hurting?” he said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
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