Casinos fighting competition from Dotty’s are just blowing smoke

Sure, it’s a woman’s right to get cancer by smoking, gambling and drinking in a bare-bones tavern.

That’s equal rights all right.

But because this Dotty’s versus the scions of local gaming has become a hot issue, I went to check it out, bringing all my misconceptions with me.

I envisioned something reeking of smoke. Yes, I smelled smoke, but I didn’t have to strip and wash my clothes when I got home like I used to do after R-J parties at the Tap House back before the ban on smoking where food is served.

When I entered the Dotty’s at 2101 S. Decatur Blvd. on Thursday afternoon, there was one woman smoking, playing a keno slot machine and sipping a Diet Coke. She told me she likes Dotty’s for one big reason: “I win.” She had run $25 up to $163.

Following her lead, I doubled my money in half an hour at the nickel slots. Whoooheee. Five dollars became 10! Hey, big spender!

What I hadn’t expected was how clean it was. The women’s restroom and the entire operation was immaculate. Nor did I anticipate the décor, something along the lines of Early Grandma with bookshelves housing little bunnies and turtles and frogs and cutesy dolls.

The room was bright because of glass windows on two sides. A non-Tom Jones version of “Love is in the Air” played. The 15 slot machines were grouped in threes.

When I left, there were three men playing and three women, if you include me. Others had come in just to buy smokes.

Later, at my hairdresser’s, I spoke with Cathy Mercadante, a Dotty’s regular, and she explained how I had missed the big attraction. “It’s safe. You can park in front and not go through a parking garage.”

She and her sister like to go there because the drinks are all free, even the alcoholic ones, but no one is drunk. The one-person per shift staff is very friendly and doesn’t allow customers to be harassed. “My sister drinks champagne for free, and it’s not those watered-down drinks you get in a casino.”

And Mercadante gets checks based on how much she gambles. “The casinos don’t pay you.”

She likes Dotty’s so much that she gives it up for Lent.

The legal dispute is simple: Is Dotty’s a tavern?

The locals casinos, including Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming, want the county to change regulations so the Dotty’s model won’t qualify as a tavern. The 64 existing Dotty’s locations would be grandfathered in, but the company couldn’t expand under its current bare-bones model.

The sons of the gaming pioneers named Fertitta and Boyd are trying to appeal to the state’s need for money and cut out their competition. Taverns with 15 slots or less don’t pay gaming taxes based on revenues; they pay a fee based on each slot machine. A higher tax burden on Dotty’s probably would force them to tighten up on those loose slots and giveaways.

The Clark County Commission will hear the Dotty’s issue on April 5, the day of the mayoral primary. Commissioners, including mayoral wannabes Larry Brown and Chris Giunchigliani, will be asked to redefine “tavern” so Dotty’s and their ilk won’t qualify.

Commissioners would be smart to follow the advice of former Gaming Commission Chairmen John O’Reilly and Bill Curran and leave the definition of tavern alone and not be pawns of local casino companies trying to use definitions to eliminate competition.

Dotty’s is a free-market success story. It found a niche and filled it. Leave it alone, fellas.

I say that as someone who probably will never step foot in another one.

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