NEWS
Regulators still hold the cards in tribal gaming
New York state could impose competition on the Senecas. Out west, though, feds bend the rules
Native American tribal bodies may have a lot more autonomy than they enjoyed just a few decades ago, but when it comes to gaming regulation, their political clout can still feel a little weak. The Seneca Nation in New York state, for example, is facing another invasion – this time from non- tribal casino operators.
The state’s senate is considering opening up the gaming market in
Western New York, but the Senecas argue that it should “honour its legal agreements”, referring to a 2002 pact that gives them exclusive rights to operate gaming in the region. The tribe’s gaming operations have created nearly 3600 jobs there, it says, most of them going to non-Indians, and it has also contributed substantially to public coffers, paying the state and local communities a quarter of slots revenue.
Allowing commercial casino
operators to open up where the tribe has exclusivity will undermine the economy, say the Senecas
Over the last decade, the Senecas – who operate casinos in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Salamanca – have remitted $475m of that money. But they are holding back a further $310m on the grounds that the state isn’t playing straight. “We strongly believe that allowing commercial gaming interests to operate in the areas of Western New York where the Seneca Nation has gaming exclusivity will undermine the economic stability of the region, and actually result in a net negative impact on the people and communities of Western New York,” said Robert Odawi Porter, the Senecas’ President. There couldn’t, perhaps, be a bigger contrast than the experience of the Northfork Rancheria of Mono Indians in central California near Sacramento, who have received permission from the Department of the Interior in Washington
to develop a casino with 2500-game slot floor and 200-room hotel – even though it’s normally against federal policy to allow gaming on tribal sites established since 1988, and the Northfork Rancheria didn’t get going until the 1990s.
The federal government also approved a development with 1700 slots and 170 hotel rooms planned by the Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians near Marysville, in the north of the state, but turned down another proposal from the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians for a site near San Francisco.
Said Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk: “Our responsibility under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is clear: we must review each application on a case-by-case basis and determine whether it meets the standards outlined in law and regulation. Both [the Northfork Rancheria of Mono and Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu] have historical connections to the proposed gaming sites, and both proposals have strong support from the local community, which are important factors in our review.”
INBRIEF
GREAT MOVE The Great Foundation is taking over development of Britain’s proposed National Gambling Helpline from the Responsible Gambling Fund.
SEX APPEAL New licensed slots from International Game Technology (IGT) include Sex and the City Big Diamonds, complete with diamond-lit cabinet, and Dirty Dancing.
ECO-LIGHTS Heber, the maker of gaming control systems, is investing in LED lighting and new recycling facilities as part of its green programme.
CABINET CLEARANCE Gaming Laboratories International has approved Merkur Gaming’s Slant Top cabinet and 16 games. More are expected to receive its blessing before the end of the year.
VIRIDIAN APPROVAL Portuguese authorities have given the okay to Aristocrat Technologies’ Viridian games, and the first have been installed at Casino da Póvoa.
SERIOUS BUSINESSWorld Match has launched two new video Poker games, Joker Poker Aces and Double Joker Poker.
JCM FOR RACETRACK JCM Global is to supply its bill validators to Resorts World Casino New York City’s Aqueduct Racetrack property opening this month. It will eventually have 5000 VLT devices.
AFRICAN DREAMS Atomic Gaming is now distributing Magic Dreams’s Video Poker range in Africa.
JUNGLE JACKPOTS Aristocrat Tarzan Lord of the Jungle slot has now paid out more than $1.5m in progressive jackpots to six players in North American casinos, in six months since its launch.
AWARDS BACKER The European Gaming & Betting Association is to support the International Gaming Awards, due to be held next February in London to coincide with the ICE trade event.
VIRTUAL BLACKJACK Interblock’s latest product is a version of its Organic Virtual video table for Blackjack.
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