Industry News
Table Gaming, Lotteries Approved for Spokane Indian Casinos
The agreement, a compact between the state and the tribe, a sovereign nation, under U.S. law, indicates that the tribe can conduct gaming at up to five facilities throughout its lands in Washington State. Wagers will be limited to $20 at 15 percent of the player terminals on the tribe's reservations. For the first three years of the operation, no more than 1,500 player lottery terminals will be operated by the tribe. In the future, up to 4,700 new player terminals will be authorized. What's more, for table gaming, new rules emerged as well. At one tribal casino, there will be 75 gaming tables authorized. At another tribal facility, there will be 50 tables authorized.Higher wagering limits -- above $20 -- will be made available for customers who have completed a credit check, and the credit check must be conducted for each customer who is authorized to gamble every 120 days.
Reached A Deal
"We have reached a proposed compact that serves the tribe and state well," said Richard Sherwood, chairman of the Spokane tribe. "The proposal ensures that gaming stays limited and well-regulated."The governor of the State of Washington, Gov. Gregoire, said that the reaching the deal means that relations between the tribe and the state are going well. "This tentative agreement addressed my concerns," said the governor.
Experts are telling Onlinecasinocrawler.com that the key to the deal was providing revenues -- in the form of sharing of tax receipts -- with other tribes in the state. Additionally, the Spokane tribe will contribute 0.13 percent of its revenues from gaming to provide counseling services for problem gamers. These payments will be made to the state's Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse. Another 0.13 percent will be set aside for "smoking cessation" programs for tribal citizens, experts said.
It is interesting to note that studies have shown that only approximately 1 percent of gamblers are problem gamblers, meaning that they are addicted and cannot control themselves. The majority, 99 percent, have no such problem, though government officials, in the U.S., Democrats and Republicans alike, continue to complain about gambling addiction and Internet gambling addiction to set up restrictive policies and taxation measures on the casino operators.
As a concession to the tribe, the state, however, acknowledged that casino gambling revenues fund "investments in the community which benefit both tribal and non-tribal members." The parties apparently have been in negotiations for years, and reaching the deal on December 28 was something of an unexpected, if late, Christmas gift to the gaming industry.
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