Town Made Famous by Errant Whale OKs Poker Club

Voters in this Sacramento River town made famous by the wanderings of Humphrey, a 45-ton humpback whale, have legalized gambling by a two-vote margin.

City officials said Wednesday the proposal to convert a boarded-up bowling alley into a 50-table poker hall passed 757 to 755. Voter turnout was 81% of the town’s 1,883 registered voters, officials said.

Six Northern California investors want to build a $4-million casino, lounge and restaurant. They say the card room will generate about $1 million from gross annual revenues of $7.9 million.

Proponents said the high-stakes poker, with jackpots up to $100,000, would help bring the town back from the brink of bankruptcy. Opponents warned it would bring in more traffic, and would attract loan sharks, prostitutes and other criminal activities.

The election caused one of the biggest stirs since Humphrey inexplicably abandoned the ocean and settled into an area of the city’s waterfront for several days in 1985.