Pala Casino is bad for gamblers and bad for San Diego! Shame on Pala!

Help us campaign today for a better tomorrow!

About the cause . . . .

Hi, my name is Jamie.

I thank you for taking the time to view my site. Here, you can read about why I am committed to this undertaking, and a little bit about what I am currently doing in support of my objectives.

You may have found me by seeing a billboard, reading a newspaper ad, hearing a radio spot, or browsing social media. But radio and billboards only give a brief glimpse of this fight. And although print ads and social media provide the option of more text, there is a trade-off between large, eye-catching text, and delivering more information. And that is where the site comes in. It allows me to share this message with all who wish to view it, and in much more detail. So let me get started...

I Was Unfairly Banned from Pala, and Stripped of My Casino Benefits

I was a patron at Pala Casino for many years, having lost in excess of $1 million gambling there. In December of 2018, Casino security abruptly barred me, after I had a few winning sessions at table games. Pala offered no explanation for my expulsion. This leads me to believe that they are so concerned about patrons winning, that they exclude anyone they deem unprofitable.

I had earned tens of thousands of tickets to the December 31, 2018 drawing, and then was barred from the property and the drawing without any recourse. Furthermore, Google has an app in its Playstore where one can purchase virtual credits, and earn points redeemable at Pala. Because I am banned from the casino, I cannot redeem the value of the points I earned through the virtual games on the app. This is incredibly unfair.

It seems that the tribe cares about one thing, and that's money! In my experience, Pala offers games with high house advantage, drawings that average customers almost never win, and some of the lowest offers in San Diego for retaining patrons in their players club. In short, Pala is a terrible play. If you play there frequently, have you ever finished a year ahead? Do you know any "regular players" who have? Pala casino separates those who walk through their door from both their time and money. In my opinion, they are able to do so because they treat their patrons as either too addicted or uneducated to realize they are getting hustled.

I can only assume that the Casino treats a regular customer like me badly because of a broader make-money-at-all-costs approach to casino management. This seems consistent with recent employee layoffs that I have no doubt were made to help the property's bottom line. See https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/casinos/sd-me-casinos-20180303-story.html

Join the Fight

So that brings me to my current fight. I am committed to raising awareness of what actually goes on, and the dirty side of business at Pala. The decision to bar me was likely a favor since I cannot lose more money there, but now with additional time and finances at my disposal, I want to let the community know what's going on.

Do you know you cannot sue an Indian casino unless they allow you to do so? And that if the tribe does something illegal, law enforcement will not come out and assist at your request, only theirs? Does this seem like something that should be allowed in America today? Maybe it's time to look at whether Pala should be allowed to operate at all. Pala seems like a bad bet for San Diego, and the product they offer has been terribly misrepresented.

I am starting with a media campaign, including social media. With any luck, I hope to be a guest on local news and radio shows to highlight the issue and make people aware of what's going on.

My efforts do not end there. I also will be taking political action. Local and state government should not provide endorsement or law enforcement support to Pala, if at all, unless they at the very least waive tribal sovereignty for patrons, and allow equal protection under the law for both patrons and tribal members. This is only fair, and should be the case EVERYWHERE in America.

I now have lots of time and more resources at my disposal, but they are not endless. Media, social media, political lobbying, legal fees, and events will be quite costly, and I am aware of that. I am committing $100,000 in initial personal funds to get the ball rolling, and intend to partner with groups that would like to see the same outcome. I intend to see this through. However, I'm not naive to the fact that this campaign will likely take several years, and will require significantly more funding for marketing, political engagement, etc.

If you are interested in helping through either donations, volunteerism, or contacting local and state representatives, your help would be welcomed. Please sign up below, and someone will get in touch with you. Let's show Pala that there are two sides to this road: That without patrons, there is no money!

Update 10.3.19

Polling is now complete, and the numbers are quite promising. Public Policy Polling was retained by us to conduct the poll on likely voters to see where public opinion stands on the main components of our ballot measure. We have had the results for five days now, but after careful consideration have decided only to release relevant numbers. Other things like the percentage of men vs women, Democrats vs Republicans, and other information I would not releasing as these are quite costly and I fear that important information, which can be used to tailor an add campaign among other things, would end up getting back to the casino.

So, looking at the percentage of those in favor vs those opposed only, here are the questions asked and the results...

Would you support or oppose a ballot measure that requires Indian casinos to pay the same amount of tax as any similar business in the state?

65.9% support

34.1% oppose

Would you support or oppose a ballot measure that enacted consumer protections for casino patrons?

69.4% support

30.6% oppose

Do you support or oppose limiting the advantage casinos hold over patrons, so that patrons have a much better chance of winning?

63.5% support

36.5% oppose

I find the numbers interesting. I think some who support higher taxation of Indian casinos might have voted in opposition because they don't feel they should pay the same amount in tax as similar businesses, but that they should pay more this skewing data.

I am very encouraged by these numbers. Now groups we have reached out to who we are asking for support from can feel confident when we get this on the ballot that it will pass.

Much more to come, so check back here for more!

Update 9.23.19...

We have been in the process behind the scenes working to make sure our next steps have the greatest impact. We are fine tuning our message, working on new signs for the truck that will have greater impact, and determining the best way to move forward politically. This has been taking more time than expected between talking with experts to get advice to the design people with creating our new canvases for our truck.

That said, we are making lots of progress, and our message will be that much stronger and highly visible soon. Let me give just one example. In a very small sample, we found that people were less inclined to support a gamblers bill of rights because of negative word association with the word gambler. Therefore, when we conduct the larger poll in the next few days, we will be asking if respondents would be in favor of legislation that included casino patron consumer protections. Same thing, but the wording will matter when it's presented to voters.

Thanks again for the messages of support, and more to come real soon.

Update 9.7.19...

The amount of support generally from the community has grown and continues to grow. We have even received media inquiries, and are in the process of preparing for interviews that should be happening soon. Though my original objectives haven't been met, it now looks like much broader change could come about as a result of the efforts we have undertaken. I have created a Gambler's Bill of Rights now that includes 10 items. At this point, we need to look to a political solution to ensure its passage.

The new Gambler's Bill of Rights are as follows:

1. Tribal Casinos to pay the same amount of tax as any other business does.

2. Waive Sovereign Immunity for equal access to police protection for tribal and non tribal members.

3. End the practice of ejecting patrons without cause. Limits ejections only to illegal activity on their property. Cap all bans to no more than 5 years.

4. Restrict the house edge to 2%.

5. Require an independent gaming commission appointed by the county.

6. Waive Sovereignty for civil litigation.

7. Require a 72 hour cooling off period for any patron that looses $10,000 or more in a single 24 hour period.

8. Require the casino give a rebate of at least 20% to any patron who looses $5,000 or more in a month.

9. Prohibit the sharing of patron information with any third party except for instances required by law.

10. Require any promotional offers be transferrable.

I expect the above items will receive broad support, but do want to know how broad that support will be. So, we are using a polling organization to see what level of support voters in San Diego county would have for this. I'm expecting polling numbers back next week. This is unique in that those who are opposed to casinos should support these rights because they limit casinos through regulation, affects the casinos’ bottom lines, and discourages the spread of gaming for fear of further restrictions.

In addition, those who like going to the casinos should also support these measures because they provide patronsopportunities to actually win money as opposed to consistently losing. They further provide a rebate to a patron with large losses. So, I expect wide support for this.

Anything above 60 percent support will mean we can move forward. More than 70 percent would mean many organizations that are in favor of the kind of work we do would also likely jump in at that point with their support. At 80 percent support, I believe that regardless of the amount of money spent trying to defeat this by the casinos, it passes anyways.

In the meantime, we will continue to work. Our billboard truck will be traveling and spreading awareness to this cause, and we will soon be using other media as well to spread the word.

We now have someone who is an expert in social media who will be assisting us starting next week, and this should help this grassroots effort spread like wildfire.

Let's hope for broad support here so we can move forward with having the language drafted for the ballot measure, paying the filing fee, and then we can get the signatures and get this onto the ballot!!!

-Jamie

Chairman, AllFair Organization

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Pala Casino is bad for gamblers and bad for San Diego! Shame on Pala!

About the cause . . . .

Hi, my name is Jamie.

Time for San Diego to Fight Pala!