What a week of gambling news! Tribal Gaming and the governor of Oklahoma have escalated their fight in that state to lawsuits and name calling. Plus, Tribal Casinos are now in the center of a sports betting disagreement in Washington State. We also talk about dragons and marijuana.
Howdy friends J Todd back again with another edition of This Week in Gambling, and oh boy… do we have a good one for you this week! Insults! Fighting! Threats! Lawsuits! It’s all in this week’s big story!
A while back we told you all about a conflict in the state of Oklahoma between Tribal casinos and the Governor over there gaming compacts. And like most highly volatile situations, this one is all about the money.
You see in July of last year governor Kevin Stitt decided that Oklahoma needed a bigger cut of the action when it came to Tribal gaming in the state… something that Tribal gaming did not want to concede, naturally. And that was the beginning of trouble.
Then on January 1st of this year the state’s gaming compact with the tribes expired… or renewed, depending on which side of this argument you’re on. The tribes claim that the compact automatically renewed so they just kept going. The governor, however, said the compact expired and now the tribes were operating illegally. Oh boy…
Then things really heated up when the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians filed a Federal lawsuit against Governor Stitt… who is part Cherokee himself! Oh, goodness!
That’s when a judge stepped in and said, ‘You people best cut the crap’, and ordered them to go to mediation.
And then more tribes that didn’t even operate casinos came in and said hey we want to be part of this legal action people are like I don’t think so!
That’s when the governor threatened to bring in commercial casinos from outside the state just to undercut the tribes profits!
And the tribes are like: Oh no you won’t!
And the governor said, You just sit there and watch me!
So the tribes questioned the governor’s Native American heritage!
And the governor was like, Oh no you didn’t!
And the tribe said, You heard us sucker!
And the governor’s like… AW SNAP!!! At least… that’s the CliffsNotes version.
And while we wait to see what Oklahoma mediation brings, sports betting is still alive in the state of Washington. And guess what conflict is right smack in the middle of the debate? Yes, if sports betting is regulated in Washington it will only be permitted at Tribal casinos, a move that doesn’t sit well with everyone… especially the state’s 44 licensed cardrooms who also want a cut of the action!
Those opposed to restricting sports betting just to Indian casinos say that the state is granting tribal gaming interest a tax-free monopoly… which they are! But also they argued that by doing so, the state is also leaving about $50 million a year in tax revenue on the table!
This week we’ve got dragons flying around everywhere as I have three new game reviews to share with you. First up it’s Triple Action Dragons, a high-volatility game from our friends at Ainsworth with just five pay lines, one bonus and no scattered symbols. It’s a simple straightforward game making it perfect for new beginners.
Next up is Dragon’s Law SeleXion from Konami gaming. Their hugely popular Dragons Law Rapid Fever and Dragons Law Boosted into a single game. It comes with two progressive jackpot and it’s on casino floors right now.
Lastly we have the Dragon and Phoenix online slot from BetSoft with five reels and 100 pay lines featuring wilds and expanding wilds, free spins and a gamble feature. All of these game reviews are available on our YouTube channel right now.
And finally this week, as I’m sure many of you know marijuana is legal in the state of Nevada. But just because you can buy it in Las Vegas doesn’t mean you can smoke it anywhere you want to. You can’t light up at a poker table or a slot machine or really anywhere on the gaming floor. And if you’re wondering why casinos would implement such a rule, well… Just think what’s gonna happen when the Willie Nelson slot finally rolls out everywhere!
