Bingo? Wisconsin lawmakers consider changing game’s official definition.

State lawmakers are considering changing Wisconsin’s official definition of “bingo” at the request of an Illinois-based company operating free “Xtreme Bar Bingo” events at dozens of taverns.

Wisconsin’s lengthy bingo regulations date back to 1973, when state lawmakers specified that only religious, charitable or veteran nonprofit organizations could obtain “a license to conduct bingo.” The law also stipulates players must buy their cards in order to receive prizes.

Xtreme Bar Bingo is different. It’s run by a private company that gives out free cards to bar patrons and markets the games on behalf of participating bars, which pay the company a fee. It offers prizes like televisions or gift cards, and boasts the chance to win jackpots of up to $15,000.

A Republican bill, which has the support of one Democrat, would tweak Wisconsin’s definition of bingo to exempt Xtreme Bar Bingo from the state’s regulations.

During a public hearing before the Wisconsin Assembly’s Committee on State Affairs, Xtreme Bar Bingo President Todd Korves said the company hopes to clarify the bingo license law so it won’t be held to the same regulations as games where people wager money.

“Our concern with the wording of the current law is that it may be misconstrued by local law enforcement, who may try to hold our company in the same regulations as a regular bingo,” Korves said. “Our hope is to make the necessary clarifications so that businesses like ours continue to run within the state of Wisconsin with clarity and without fear of enforcement, uncertainty and intervention.”

Korves said Xtreme Bar Bingo is an economic driver for bars and claimed the events bring an average of 40 players per game on what might otherwise be slow nights.

“Recently, I saw a statistic that in the United States that people are drinking and going out at the lowest (rate) in the last 90 years,” Korves said. “And so, talking to bar owners, this is a big problem across all the United States.”

State Rep. Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee, asked Korves how the company makes money if games are free for bar patrons. He said bars pay a weekly $160 fee in order to offer Xtreme Bar Bingo.

More than 100 bars already offer it in Wisconsin, according to the company.

Company attorney Derek Punches reiterated that even though Xtreme Bar Bingo is “offering a game that’s called bingo, it doesn’t necessarily fall under the statutory definition of bingo.”

“Because the participants aren’t paying to play and the prizes are essentially donated to them,” Punches said.

In an email following the hearing, Korves told WPR he believes Xtreme Bar Bingo games are already excluded from the state’s bingo regulations, but the bill is a proactive measure.