Oklahoma House approves gaming expansion

The House of Representatives has approved a bill that would allow tribal casinos to offer roulette and craps.

US.- Yesterday the state House of Representatives approved House Bill 3375, which allows tribal casinos to offer craps and roulette. The bill originally wanted to allow sports betting at tribal casinos, but the language was removed from the House floor through an amendment from the bill’s author, Representative Kevin Wallace.

“Based on opposition from within the building, I’m hearing that sports book is the biggest problem. Ball and dice games don’t seem to be a problem. Those games are already being played, just without the die or the ball,” said Wallace. Tribes that get on board with the new gaming provisions will be required to pay Oklahoma 10 per cent of their monthly net winnings from each new offering as an exclusivity fee.

The amendment passed by an overwhelmingly 66-22 count, and with the state facing a multi-million-dollar budget shortfall for the next fiscal year, the bill could try to solve some of those problems.

A study carried out by the Oklahoman Indian Gaming Commission revealed that tribal casinos have paid the state more than US$1.1 billion in exclusivity fees since the implementation of the gaming compact signed in 2006. Fees from the gaming expansion are expected to generate approximately US$22 million in the first year of operations and US$49 million annually in the next years.

While the current gaming compacts with the State of Oklahoma are supposed to end on January 1st, 2020, Wallace said that those terms will still be in place: “We’re not changing the compact at all. I believe if you want to talk about leverage… I believe sports books will be that leverage, and we took that out of the bill.”