Most Utahns likely would say it is a sure bet that state officials would never legalize gambling. But international developments (and even some embryonic pressure at home) someday could make some gambling here legal -- and maybe already has.

Among those pressures are:

-- The World Trade Organization ruled in April that the United States cannot block other countries from offering Internet gambling to U.S. residents -- even if they live in Utah and Hawaii, where all forms of gambling are technically illegal. And now the state could face a new onslaught of Internet gaming and free trade litigation from Costa Rica if the Senate approves the Central American Free Trade Agreement (see related story on A1 and A11).

-- The U.S. House of Representatives passed provisions two years ago that would have allowed online betting from anywhere in the country on horse and dog racing, state lotteries and some other gambling conducted in states where they are legal. The proposal was later killed by the Senate. The Justice Department said that could have legalized such online gambling forms in Utah.

-- While still a small minority, 30 percent of Utahns say in a new Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll that they favor legalizing gambling here. Pollster Dan Jones also says he feels that support for legalization is growing, even though it is still unpopular now, overall. Legalization could keep in state what studies say is a quarter-billion dollars that Utahns wager in neighboring states each year.

A few Utah officials want to legalize gambling. For example, Stephen Perry, the mayor of Wendover, Utah, says he would like it there to help his city compete with adjacent West Wendover, Nev., which he says attracts most of the area's tourists, businesses and revenue to be near its casinos.

Also, as recently as 1992, the horse industry helped push a referendum toward legalizing pari-mutuel betting in Utah. The proposal actually led in early polls, but heavy opposition -- especially from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- eventually saw it lose by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin.

-- Bingo and poker clubs now operate widely in Utah, offering video gaming and other wagering similar to what is found in casinos. Utahns can easily lose, or win, hundreds of dollars quickly in such establishments. Owners claim loopholes in the law make their operations legal, although many prosecutors disagree.

Despite these and other pressures, most officials doubt that Utah lawmakers will ever legalize gambling themselves -- and expect that they would fight hard any moves to bring it to the state and would work to close any existing loopholes that make prosecution difficult.

"Certainly in the foreseeable future, I would have to say no, I don't see the Legislature ever legalizing any gambling," says State House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy.

State Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, agrees -- but says he isn't surprised that the question is asked "because I have actually thought about it. That is because others have come to me and said, 'What about this?' (about such things as allowing gambling in Wendover, Utah). I said I would look into it. I did, and it would be a disaster. There is no such thing as allowing a little gambling - - it would likely end up allowing it all over the state."

Gambling's legal hurdles

Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom agrees that legalization is unlikely and notes two principal legal reasons.

"First, we have a (state) constitutional provision that prohibits gambling, meaning in order to legalize any form of gambling, we would have to go through a constitutional amendment process," which is difficult -- especially when 69 percent of Utahns surveyed oppose legalization, Yocom notes.

"The second problem is that if the state legalizes any form of gambling, then under the (federal) Indian Gaming Act (and Supreme Court decisions), Indian tribes in Utah would have the right to set up their own casinos," Yocom said.

Because of that, Curtis said, "Allowing any form of gambling -- like allowing a gaming district in Wendover -- would also open up gaming sites (by Indian tribes), possibly throughout the state. We don't want to do that." The U.S. Supreme Court has said the only way to prohibit Indian tribal gaming is to ban all gaming in a state.

Besides possibly allowing Indian gaming, Valentine added that research by his staff shows that allowing one form of gambling in Utah could cause problems with interstate commerce laws -- and possibly allow more forms of gaming here. He says it would add ammunition to countries like Antigua that have argued to the World Trade Organization that trade agreements already should force Internet gambling at its sites to be legal in Utah.

Still, Mayor Perry in Wendover laments that his city may die unless the Legislature someday allows a special gaming district there so it can compete with West Wendover. Congress, Utah and Nevada have also considered changing the Utah-Nevada boundary to allow Wendover and West Wendover to merge and thereby share the benefits and costs from gaming.

Politics and religion

Besides legal obstacles, intertwined political and religious hurdles likely would block any move toward legalization of gambling in Utah in the near future. The biggest among them is staunch opposition to gambling by the LDS Church.

The new Morning News poll shows legalizing gambling in Utah is favored by local Catholics (by a 72-38 margin), Protestants (52-48) and "not active" LDS members (65-32). But it is overwhelmingly opposed by "very active" LDS members (by a whopping 95-4 margin) and "somewhat active" LDS members (65-35).

LDS Church members far outnumber other religious groups in the state -- 69 percent of those polled identified themselves as LDS -- and political power comes with such big-majority numbers.

Also, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley used a long address during the church's general conference in April to focus solely on opposition to gambling.

"In all too many cases this practice, which appears innocent, can lead to an actual addiction. The church has been and is now opposed to this practice. If you have never been involved in poker games or other forms of gambling, don't start. If you are involved, then quit now while you can do so," President Hinckley said.

Yocom said opposition from the church was perhaps solely responsible for killing the 1992 referendum on pari-mutuel betting, and he said LDS Church opposition would likely kill any similar sorts of moves in the future.

Tougher laws?

While no officials foresee legalizing gambling in Utah, they do say toughening laws may be likely.

Several prosecutors and police have said some of the existing laws are murky enough that it is difficult to prosecute bingo and poker clubs. For example, bingo hall owners claim their operations are legal because bingo is free with the food they sell (even if the food is overpriced). Poker clubs contend poker is a game of skill not chance, and that it is free after players pay entry fees to compete for prizes.

For example, Mike Junk, chief prosecuting attorney for Ogden, is among those who express concerns over whether current law really outlaws bingo halls from charging $25 for dinners that would cost $2 to $3 elsewhere but then allow "free" bingo with that food for up to $1,000 in cash prizes (and many people buy extra dinners for extra chances at winning).

"At this point we have allowed that," he says. "They (customers) are presented something of value for their money besides just a bingo card; at least it is some kind of dinner, even if it is a bit overpriced. . . . If a court in some other jurisdiction makes a ruling that it is gambling, then we will follow that and enforce it."

Senate President Valentine said he and some other legislators have already started reviewing whether to clarify the law and close some of the loopholes now used by bingo and poker clubs.

To more specifically outlaw selling food or other items of value to allow "free" bingo or poker with it, Valentine said some legislators are looking at language to ban "giving to another anything of value for the right or opportunity to participate in an event or to enhance the likelihood of winning an event" where cash or other items of value are awarded.

House Speaker Curtis says he sees the likelihood of gambling law reforms passing as good -- if police and prosecutors push them and suggest what clarifying language is needed.

"If the prosecutors and attorney general say laws are inadequate, I see the Legislature responding," he said.

Battles in Congress

Utahns, not surprisingly, have helped lead fights in Congress against moves they worry could trump state law and allow some forms of gambling into their state.