Gaming compacts approved for Oklahoma tribes

[Kingk0ng]

By The Associated Press

Card games including poker and blackjack became legal at some Indian casinos in Oklahoma Thursday with the publishing of federally approved agreements between the state and tribes to expand gambling.

The agreements, or compacts, are between the state and the Absentee Shawnee Tribe, Comanche Nation, Miami Tribe and the Cherokee Nation.

Oklahoma voters approved a measure in November that permitted the state to compact with tribes for non-house backed card games and electronic bingo games that work more like Las Vegas slot machines. Voters also approved electronic games at three pari-mutuel horse tracks, two of which are tribally owned.

In exchange for the new games, the compacts give the state a share of the gaming profits and some oversight. The state's share is to be used to help fund education.

"So final approval of the compacts means public schools will soon begin to benefit, and more funding for public education is good news for Oklahoma," said Paul Sund, a spokesman for Gov. Brad Henry.

The Cherokee casino at Catoosa, near Tulsa, has announced it will offer about 70 tables for poker and blackjack. Blackjack games were beginning Thursday evening.

There also will be a VIP room for high-stakes blackjack or no-limit Texas Hold'em poker.

The tribe, which has been training card dealers, already has hired an estimated 100 people and has plans to bring on another 200 or so as the games at Catoosa pick up and the card games are started at its other two casinos, at Roland and West Siloam Springs.

The tribe's $80 million gaming facility at Catoosa includes the gaming center, a luxury 150-room hotel with swimming pool and a golf course.

The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma owns Thunderbird Casino near Norman. The Comanche Nation's casino is in Lawton in southwestern Oklahoma and the Miami Tribe operates its casino in Miami in far northeastern Oklahoma.

Indian gambling is expected to grow significantly in Oklahoma as more and more tribes enter into compacts allowing the expanded games. These new compacts are expected to bring 10,000 new electronic games into the state, for a total of about 30,000 games.

At that number, only four states would have more machines - Nevada, New Jersey, Mississippi and California.

Tribal gaming profits total about $500 million a year statewide, and state officials estimate the state's share will amount to about $71 million annually for education.

[cookson1]

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