Casino news source: Sun Herald - http://www.sunherald.com
Slot switch likely in Ala.
Vegas-style or not, Atmore unlikely to affect Coast
By TOM WILEMON
tewilemon@sunherald.com
Creek Indians in Alabama are likely to obtain federal approval to switch from bingo-based gambling to Vegas-style slots at their casinos.
One of those properties is only a couple hours from Coast casinos, but the scenario of upgraded slots doesn't cause the same alarm level as a proposed tribal casino in Jackson County.
The Alabama casino is far enough away from Biloxi and from Interstate 10 not to be a cutoff for Florida gamblers bound for the Coast. The tribe's Creek Entertainment Center in Atmore is just off Interstate 65 northeast of Mobile.
"If people are getting in a carload from Atlanta, they are not going to stop at a one-horse Indian casino when they can drive a little further to Biloxi and get to 10 or more casinos that have all kinds of entertainment," said John Ed Ainsworth, the managing partner for the Gollott brothers' casino sites.
However, he said a casino just off Interstate 10 in Jackson County proposed by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians would have location and tax advantages that could deter development and investment in Biloxi.
Keith Crosby, the manager of the Palace Casino, said the Creek casino already is figured into the market. The average gambler can't tell the difference between bingo-based and Vegas-style slots, he said. The Creeks already have 1,125 games in Atmore.
Gov. Bob Riley has refused to negotiate with the Creeks to allow them to operate Vegas-style slots. That is the reason Paula Hart of the Bureau of Indian Affairs gave at the Global Gaming Expo for why the U.S. Department of Interior will authorize the upgraded slots for the Creeks. She said Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Gov. Rick Perry also have refused to negotiate compacts.
Compacts must exist between states and tribes for there to be Vegas-style slots.
But the federal approval could work out to a wash. New rules and definitions that the National Indian Gaming Commission is considering might automatically reclassify the Creeks' slot machines.
Buford L. Rolin, the chairman of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, is concerned about the rule change occurring without a compact. This would make the tribe's slot machines illegal.
"So we find ourselves in an economic Catch-22," Rolin said in a news release earlier this year. "The federal laws that have recognized our right to operate are being changed and the state refuses to negotiate with us."
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians signed a compact with Gov. Kirk Fordice in 1992. It limits casino gambling to the reservation.
The compact states: "It is recognized and agreed that no Class III (Vegas-style) gaming shall be conducted by the tribe on lands newly acquired by the Secretary (U.S. Department of Interior) in trust for the benefit of the tribe after Oct. 17, 1988, unless located within or contiguous to the existing boundaries of the tribe's reservation as of Oct. 17, 1988, and if the Secretary, after consultation with local officials, as required by (federal law) determines that such gaming on newly acquired lands would be in the tribe's best interest and would not be detrimental to the surrounding community, but only if the governor of Mississippi concurs in such determination."
Gov. Barbour has told the Department of Interior he is opposed to the expansion of gambling into Jackson County, where the Choctaws are still pursuing putting a casino.
Buford L. Rolin, the chairman of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, is concerned about the rule change occurring without a compact. This would make the tribe's slot machines illegal.
"So we find ourselves in an economic catch-22," Rolin said in a press release earlier this year. "The federal laws that have recognized our right to operate are being changed and the state refuses to negotiate with us." |
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