BIA approves ball and dice games in OK; Hard Rock Tulsa 1st to Start tables

Thirteen tribes in the condition of Oklahoma can now offer roulette, craps and other chunk and dice games, as the acceptance of Class III gaming compacts between the state and the tribes was announced by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Tara Sweeney, in a set of notices published on Friday from the Federal Register, based on indianz.com.

Averaging the version gaming compact, all amendments, including the one authorizing dice and ball games, need to be signed off on by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) prior to taking effect.

First Alaska Native:

The corporate executive hails from an Inupiat village on the northern slope of Alaska and is reportedly well-known in her home state for her work on Indigenous issues, which range from economic sustainability into tribal sovereignty.

Amendment approved:

Oklahoma Governor, Mary Fallin, on April 10 this year signed H.B. 3375 that allows the state’s casinos to offer conventional roulette and dice games, which were specifically illegal since 2004. This is not, however, the style of roulette and craps you see in Vegas. It’s a non-house banked variation where player’s losses and wins are placed in a participant pool.

Initially, the bill called for the expansion of sports betting also, but that provision was omitted via a change from Rep. Kevin Wallace (R-Wellston), the author of this measure.

Helping the drive for the passing of this bill proved to be a multi-million-dollar budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year together with the April 2 statewide walkout by teachers requiring increased education funding that shuttered schools throughout the state.

Exclusivity charges :

Tribes that signed off to the extra gaming provisions are now subject to an increase in the state’s exclusivity fees and will be asked to cover Oklahoma 10 percent of the yearly net win from each new offering.

Tribes don’t cover exclusivity fees on revenue generated from Class II gaming.

Based on some 2016 study (pdf) commissioned by the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Commission, since the 2006 implementation of Class III gaming compacts at Oklahoma, more than $1.123 billion in exclusivity fees are paid into the state by tribal casinos.

An additional $22 million is expected to be created by the exclusivity fees via the expansion from the very first year, with $49 million annually in the coming years.

Tribes compensated the fiscal year 2017 exclusivity fees based on more than $2.2 billion in revenue generated from Class III electronic games and nonhouse-banked card games.

Federal Register notices:

Class III gaming compacts were reportedly approved for an additional 11 tribes on August 9, according to the second notice, as reported by indianz.com.

Included in the next notice are tribes that operate a number of the state’s largest and most rewarding gaming businesses, like the Cherokee Nation and the Chickasaw Nation.

According to this Oklahoma Gambling Compliance Unit Annual Report Fiscal Year 2017, of the nearly $134 million in tribal gaming exclusivity fees collected in fiscal year 2017 beneath state-tribal gaming compacts, the Cherokee Nation donated $15,562,043.62 at exclusivity fees while the Chickasaw country paid $46,826,788.00 at exclusivity fees.

The Cherokee Nation’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa on Monday opened dice and ball game tables into the public. It’s the first tribal casino in the Tulsa market to do so.