La Crosse Tribune: Impact of gambling raids still being felt

CLIFTON, Wis. -- Stepping into Clifton Corners bar in the tiny Monroe County town of Clifton is like stepping back into a bygone era of Wisconsin history.

From the bearskin that was shot in 1957 and hangs on the ceiling to the boast by bartender Randy Nelson that the watering hole once doubled as a stage coach stop in the 1850s, nothing in Clifton Corners suggests things have changed much for decades.

Coupled with the remote location, about 10 miles southeast of Tomah, one mile west of the Juneau County border at Hwys. A and W, the bar seems an unlikely location for a sophisticated sting operation.

But that is exactly what happened two years ago on a Friday night just before Christmas, said owner Jerry Rockwell.

Around midnight, Rockwell's bar was entered by a number of state and out-of-town officials who seized an illegal video gambling machine in a countywide raid of which the mere mention still angers local bar owners.

"We had a packed bar, they threw everybody out ... treated us like criminals," said Rockwell, who was charged with misdemeanor commercial gambling and fined. "I know they were illegal, technically, but everybody had them. To me that is not illegal."

Not only did Rockwell and Nelson not think what they were doing was wrong, they were shocked td be caught.

"It is hard to get a Monroe County cop out here, we are at the end of the line," said Nelson, who became bar manager 11 years ago when Rockwell bought the place. "(An informant) came in with an undercover cop."

There were 39 other Monroe County taverns raided that night. Fallout from the raid is still felt today. And although District Attorney John Matousek, who was responsible for organizing the effort was voted out of office in September, many bar owners are confused about what forms of betting can and cannot take place in their establishments.

One of the bars raided was the Tee Pee Supper Club in Tomah. Its proprietor, Ed Thompson, is the brother of Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.

The governor has openly advocated relaxing the laws against tavern gaming. Central and western Wisconsin state legislators have said the issue will come up in the next legislative session.

Tavern owners say the profits m operating illegal gambling machines are negligible. But that money is crucial to bars' survival in their struggle to stay alive in the ever tightening hospitality market.

It is not the revenue generated by machines that Clifton Corners needs to survive, Rockwell said. It is the drinks people buy while playing. Changing attitudes toward alcohol and drunken driving have forced bars to diversify their services. But diversification is thwarted by the growing popularity of nearby tribal casinos -- which can afford to lavish the bars' former customers with amenities from vehicle giveaways to $4.95 prime rib and grand buffets.

It is that high stakes game of survival that forces bars to resort to breaking the law to turn a profit. And even after being arrested, most have a hard time feeling guilt for what they did.

"You have to compete," said Denny Kuehl, owner of the Uptown bar in downtown Tomah. "Having the machines is very helpful. People love to gamble."

Kuehl said he was uneasy about breaking the law but thought his reasons for doing so were valid. The local economy in the Tomah area has become addicted to the revenues and social outlets provided by casino gambling, he said.

"It gave all of us an uncomfortable feeling," Kuehl said. A lot of bar owners view illegal gambling as a necessary evil if they want to stay alive, he said.

"I wish Wisconsin had no gambling; if you want to gamble, go to Las Vegas. But since it has been introduced, it is hard to imagine going without it. It is like taking something away, and people do not like that," Kuehl said. "People come in all the time, jump in the car and go to the casinos."

Customers who meet in Kuehl's bar need only to carpool 30 miles north on Interstate 94 to find Majestic Pines Bingo and Casino in Black-River Falls.

Operators of the Ho-Chunk Nation's casino say it is hospitality, not slot machines, that lure customers.

"It is competition for customer service and how you treat people," said Lou Rehwinkel, executive director of business for the Ho-Chunk Nation. "People will go where they are treated well, where it is clean."

Rehwinkel said whether local taverns operate video slots is irrelevant to the Ho-Chunk Nation and the success of Majestic Pines or even other casinos with a wider array of games. The casino draws a different crowd than do local bars, he said.

"Some people will go a long way to a particular casino," Rehwinkel said. "I do not think there is any competition."

Tomah Bar owners remain unconvinced that they are not losing business. They also do not feel much remorse for the lengths to which they go to compete with the casino.

"I do not look at it any different than playing darts or shooting pool," said Timothy Callahan of illegal tavern gambling. He owns Callahan's bar in Tomah. "We are struggling to exist. We have people who come in and cash checks and go to the casinos."

In an effort to recapture his lost customer base, Rockwell has reinstalled a video slot machine, but the new machine does not pay out -- it is purely for entertainment, he said.

"I would say we lost half of our Sunday business," Rockwell said. "I made more in the bar because we had poker."

In the September primary election for district attorney in Monroe County, the tavern league endorsed Sparta lawyer Dan Hellman over incumbent Matousek. Hellman must now deal with the hard feelings and ill will that began with the raid.

Hellman, whose family operates a beer distributorship in Sparta, campaigned on a platform of proper prioritizing of crimes -- a platform widely interpreted as soft on video gaming -- but said he plans to enforce laws prohibiting gambling.

One "crime" taverns will not need to worry about is small sports pools, Hellman said. During the last raid, some bar owners complained that not only were illegal machines taken but also cash from pools and even dice cups.

"What you look for is people making money off those pools," Hellman said. "That is something different than if all the money is paid back out. If you are going to bust one office pool, then you are going to be busting everybody."

"I think it is ridiculous when you have to hide a football pool under the bar," Kuehl said of hiding petty gambling. "If (other bar owners) are getting away with it, more power to them. I have no hard feelings about someone with a poker machine. I know they need the revenue."