Slumping Economy hits Indian Casino industry nationwide 12/10/09 by sudhin thanwala



SAN FRANCISCO -- The economic downturn has slowed the growth of Indian gaming in America but the industry is faring better than traditional casinos, a report released Thursday shows.

Revenues climbed by 1.5 percent last year - the smallest increase since a federal law regulating the industry was passed in 1988, according to the Indian Gaming Industry Report by economist Alan Meister.

That was down from a growth rate of 5 percent in 2007 and an average rate of about 15 percent from 2001 through 2006.

The $26.8 billion industry outperformed the commercial casino sector, where revenue dropped about 7 percent to $30 billion in 2008, according to Meister's report.

Experts say Indian casinos have the advantage of being dispersed across the nation, making them more easily accessible than casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

"Indian gaming is in people's backyards," said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "A person from Southern California is not going to Vegas, but to a California Indian casino where they can spend a couple of hours. That's what you're seeing.

Despite declines in the number of visitors and the amount of money they spent in some locations, the industry as a whole was helped by expansions, new casinos and new games, Meister said.

"Some states were down while others were up," he said during a telephone interview.

In 2008, tribes operated 442 casinos in 28 states, up from 429 the previous year.

Much of the revenue increase came from Oklahoma, which added nine new gambling halls. That state's $2.9 billion in revenue allowed it to surpass Connecticut to become the second largest Indian gaming state behind California.

Another state posting significant revenue growth was Florida, where the report said the Seminole Tribe added different machines and table games such as blackjack to its existing casinos.

California was among about nine states, including Connecticut and Minnesota, that saw revenues fall although it continued to lead the nation in Indian gaming revenue at $7.3 billion. California experienced a decline of nearly 6 percent from $7.8 billion in 2007.

"It's definitely been a challenging environment," said David Gutierrez, a spokesman for Red Hawk Casino in Placerville, Calif., which opened last year. "We're near Sacramento, so we have a lot of people with government jobs who have been furloughed."

Gamblers are still coming through the doors, but spending less, he said.

The Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino in Santa Fe, N.M., which also opened in 2008, has seen a drop in out-of-town travelers, particularly business groups, said Allen Mosley, CEO of the Pueblo of Pojoaque, which manages the facility.

So Mosley said the tribe has refocused its marketing efforts on the local area.

"We've shown increases every quarter, although we're not where we projected we would be three years ago," he said.





With Vegas-style slots, Seminole Casinos are getting big 12/09/09 by michael vasquez


When Las Vegas-style slots and blackjack arrived at the Seminole Tribe's Florida casinos in 2008, the tribe's successful gambling empire was poised to become an even bigger powerhouse.

That expectation was right on the money.

Fueled by the tribe's entrance into big-time gaming, total Indian casino revenues in Florida are estimated to have jumped by 19 percent in 2008 -- making the Sunshine State the fifth-fastest growth area for tribal gaming nationwide.

The Seminoles boast seven casinos throughout the state. In addition, the Miccosukee Tribe operates a casino in West Miami-Dade.

Hard numbers showing how much was made by Florida's two Indian tribes are hard to come by because tribal casinos are not legally obligated to make such numbers public.

But the widely respected Indian Gaming Industry Report will release its annual state-by-state estimates Thursday -- estimates that say Florida retained its title as the fifth-busiest tribal gaming state overall, with more than $1.9 billion in estimated revenues. The majority of that bounty is made by the Seminoles.

The report credits the Seminoles' expanded gambling options with being the main force behind Florida's double-digit growth. The Miccosukees have yet to ask the state for Vegas-style slots or other new games.

Florida is the only state in the report to appear in both the top five in year-to-year growth as well the top five in overall gaming revenues.

The Seminoles' flagship Hard Rock casino near Hollywood, in fact, is featured on the cover of this year's gaming report, which is published by Casino City Press.

``Florida's one of the states that experienced some healthy growth, some nice strong growth in 2008,'' said the report's author, Alan Meister.

In 2007, before the addition of new games, Florida's Indian gaming revenues grew at a much-more-modest 2 percent.

Meister arrives at his estimates by combining publicly available state and federal studies, newspaper accounts, and other information. He also gets confidential data from Indian tribes across the country.

Nationally, the report estimated Indian casino revenue grew even in the face of the tattered economy. But it didn't grow by much -- only 1.5 percent. Commercial casinos -- a category that includes the rows of larger-than-life hotel resorts that line the Vegas Strip -- saw their revenue fall by 7 percent.

Indian casinos continue to become a larger share of the national gaming landscape -- accounting for 43 percent of U.S. casino revenue, according to the report.

And in Florida, the Seminoles are unquestionably the titans of the gambling arena.

The Seminoles first introduced Vegas slots in January last year. Banked card games, such as blackjack, were phased in a few months later.

Meister's report covers the entire 2008 calendar year. Because the Seminoles did not offer their full, expanded array of games at all locations throughout that year, Meister said additional big gains are possible for the Seminoles in future reports.

Meister also noted the Seminoles' plans to expand or upgrade some of their existing casino locations, which could further boost the tribe's bottom line.

``I don't think the tribe is done,'' Meister said.

Seminole Tribe spokesman Gary Bitner echoed the report's finding that Vegas-style slots and ``banked'' card games such as blackjack led to a successful 2008. The tribe's desire to expand blackjack to additional casinos -- it is only offered in Hollywood, Tampa, and Immokalee -- has been one of the many sticking points in ongoing gaming negotiations between the Seminoles and the state.

``The tribe's been trying to establish a compact with the state or finalize a compact with the state for 20 years, and it plans to keep at it,'' Bitner said.

The Seminoles and Gov. Charlie Crist agreed to a compact in 2007 that allowed blackjack and other games in exchange for revenue-sharing with the state. That compact was later invalidated by the courts, however, because it lacked the Legislature's approval.

Since then, the tribe has continued to spread blackjack games -- while sending in the required state payments -- as the issue remains under a legal cloud.

In the latest proposed compact, the tribe has agreed to share at least $150 million a year of its annual earnings with the state -- and more as its revenues expand -- in exchange for the exclusive operation of blackjack and other table games and the ability to run the only slots outside of Miami-Dade and Broward.

Crist has signed off on the deal and now needs legislative approval. But state lawmakers have criticized the $150 million figure as not enough, while also voicing objections about other parts of the agreement.

``The prospects for that compact are not good, at least in the Florida House,'' said Miami state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, a member of the House committee charged with reviewing the document.

Also carefully watching the compact talks, and working to influence the outcome, will be the state's parimutuels -- horse tracks, dog tracks and the like. A 2004 voter referendum gave Miami-Dade and Broward parimutuels the right to install Vegas-style slots, but operators say the state's 50 percent tax on slots revenues is too burdensome.

The Seminoles, in addition to other competitive advantages such as being the exclusive home of blackjack, are not subject to the 50 percent tax rate on slots. The Seminoles do not pay any tax to the state, though any approved compact agreement would include revenue sharing.

``They have stuff that we don't have,'' complained Isadore Havenick, vice president of Flagler Dog Track, along with its new Magic City Casino. ``And they have more money for marketing giveaways and other stuff that casino patrons want, and parimutuels can't give.''



If Seminole Tribe, Crist don't reach agreement state won't see a dime 8/30/09 by jim ash



The clock is ticking toward a Monday deadline for Gov. Charlie Crist to reach a potentially $150 million deal with the Seminole Tribe to expand gambling in Florida, one that Crist is likely to meet.

"I'm confident that we will reach a deal," Crist said.

Closely monitoring the negotiations are House and Senate leaders who have to sign off on the deal, most likely in a special session in October.

Watching nervously on the sidelines are dog and horse track and jai-alai fronton owners, especially those in South Florida who have been promised lower taxes, expanded hours, unlimited card games and other incentives to offset the competition.

The stakes are high. Without a compact, the struggling pari-mutuels lose their incentives. Without a compact, the state won't see a dime.

"They're negotiating, but we're not at the table," said Izzy Havenick, a vice president at Southwest Florida Enterprises, the parent company of Naples Fort Myers Greyhound Racing, a family business where Havenick contends more than 450 jobs are at risk. "We can support anything that's fair."

Lead House negotiator Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, warned that if Crist gives the Seminoles too sweet a deal, lawmakers may throw up their hands and bump the negotiations up to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Doing so would mean the tribe, which is considered an independent nation, would get expanded casino style gambling and the state would be left out in the cold.

At issue is "exclusivity," or how many more games the Seminoles can offer than their competition.

"It's my understanding is that has been their focus," Galvano said during a break in the negotiations.

Crist originally struck a deal with the tribe in 2007, but the Florida Supreme Court voided it, saying that Crist had exceeded his authority. However, the tribe has been offering blackjack at its Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood and at the Tampa Hard Rock since 2008, as if the original compact still existed. The tribe wants to add blackjack and table games at all seven of its casinos, which is a sticking point.

Negotiators want to let non-tribal competitors in on the action, too, and have offered to let the tribe reduce its payments to the state on a sliding scale if the competition hurts tribal revenues.
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But tribe attorney Barry Richard warns that without some form of exclusivity, there can be no deal. Federal regulations don't allow for tribes to share gambling proceeds with the state without it, he said.

"The money is tied directly to the issue," Barry said.

Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is running for governor next year, is fuming that the blackjack expansion has been going on for more than a year without approval. But he said there's little the state can do. McCollum has pressed the Indian Gaming Commission to intervene, but officials there are waiting for the state to strike a new deal, McCollum said.

"The gaming that's going on now is illegal," McCollum said. "It's against the law. There is no compact."

There is a reason, however, for compact negotiators not to press too hard for a federal crackdown.

The tribe has been shoveling proceeds from the expanded gambling into a reserve fund that the state can tap immediately once a compact is signed. The fund has topped $162 million. Eventually, all of the proceeds will be put toward education funding.

"It will be good for the children of Florida," Crist said.


Florida Newspaper says Florida Gambling Compact is good for both sides 8/15/09 by preston lewis



While both state and tribal negotiators stand firm on Florida casino gambling positions and wait for the other side to blink, an editorial in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel points out that resolving the issue is to the benfit of both sides. Both Seminole representatives and the Florida legislature are sticking to their guns over what the paper says "should have been an amicable arrangement that provides enough benefits to keep both the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe contented."

Tribal leaders are upset about the changes the lawmakers wrought in the agreement they had worked out with Governor Charlie Crist, only to be informed by the state Supreme Court that Crist was exceeding his authority. The legislated bill raises Seminole payments from a base of $100 million annually to $150 million, but also doesn't protect future exclusivity on card games and slots outside South Florida.

If a deal isn't reached by the end of this month, the legislature will withdraw its offer and look to federal regulators to shut down blackjack and other card games currently being played at Seminole tribal casinos. Lack of a gambling compact will mean relying on a decision by the National Indian Gaming Council.

If the case is allowed to go that far, Florida can probably count on losing any money from the Seminoles, says tribal attorney Barry Richard. On the other hand, not only will the tribe lose its slot exclusivity for most of the state, but it may lose its card gambling as well.

"Florida is on the verge of reaching a historic pact and a peaceful accord with gaming," states the paper. "The alternative, an ongoing legal struggle that will drag on in the courts, should not be an option."


Florida Tribal Casino Gambling Pact Deadline Brings Worries 8/9/09
by Matt Miller


The staredown between the state of Florida and the Seminole tribe over the legislature's casino gambling measure is continuing toward an August 31st deadline, at which point the legislature plans on withdrawing the offer. Possibilities of reaching that point are growing, causing gaming observers and Florida residents to speculate what may happen without a compact.

Federal law allows the Seminoles to keep their Class III slots, because they are legal elsewhere in the state. The Seminoles would also have no tax burden to the state, effectively costing Florida the $150 million or more that is due them in the proposal.

Depending on federal ruling, Seminole casinos may or may not have to forfeit their blackjack tables. Indian gaming law says that the state has to negotiate in good faith, and Florida lawmakers have been quoted basically telling the tribe take it or leave it.

That could lead to a federal decision that the state forfeited its rights and allow unilateral control of the blackjack decision to the tribe. But, more likely, a US judge would order blackjack closed at the tribal casinos, although the tribe could fight against such an order for a long time in court appeals.

One insider to the negotiations said, "It's like both sides are playing chicken. But the big losers will be the people of the state, because there won't be a penny coming from tribal gambling without a compact."

Opinions on Seminole Blackjack mixed and very different 8/5/09
> Posted by Josh Hafenbrack on August 5, 2009

At Hollywood’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, blackjack tables are almost always hopping. Their popularity only increased with the advent of $10-a-bet tables, a more attractive price for working-class customers than the $25 tables for high rollers.

But what happens to South Florida’s only (legal) blackjack spot if the Seminole tribe and the governor can’t fashion a gambling deal that would pass muster with the Legislature by the Aug. 31 deadline?

Will the blackjack tables disappear?

Depends on whom you ask.

In one scenario, federal regulators would order blackjack tables at Hard Rock and other tribal casinos shut down, perhaps triggering years of costly litigation. Federal marshals could be called in to enforce the order, if necessary.

In another, the tribe petitions the federal government to keep its blackjack tables – and prevails. (Likewise, lots of litigation. A win-win for lawyers.) Then the state gets no money for education.

There is precedent for federal regulators getting tough on tribal gambling operations. The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) has issued shut down orders for a handful of Indian facilities that failed to comply with gambling laws in the past, most recently in a California case in 2004. Federal regulators ordered the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians to shut down slots and table games for operating them illegally, without a compact. The two sides later reached a settlement.

"A range of things that could happen, but we don't prematurely make that call," Cindy Shaw, chief of staff at the NIGC, told the Sun Sentinel when asked what could happen if Florida reaches an impasse. "We, along with the rest of the world, cross our fingers and hope" for a successful compact.

At issue: the Indian Gaming and Regulatory Act of 1988, created by Congress. That law created the parameters governing gambling on Indian reservations. It says that Indian tribes are entitled to whatever gambling games are legal in their home state, but must negotiate a compact with the state to set the terms.

Blackjack is illegal under current Florida law. But the tribe got blackjack pursuant to a compact negotiated with Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007, which was promptly voided by the state Supreme Court. The tribe has been operating, and expanding, the games under a legal cloud ever since.

Former Sen. Steve Geller, a gambling law expert friendly to pari-mutuel gambling operators, the Seminoles’ chief competitors, said there’s “ not a snowball’s chance in hell” that the tribe would get blackjack without a compact. He said a federal judge or even, if necessary, federal marshals could be called in to close down the tables. If the tribe refused, he said, the state could clamp down on the tribe's suppliers and revoke its liquor license.

The Seminoles sees a vastly different course. Tribe lawyer Barry Richard said it would be up to the federal government to decide whether the Seminoles could keep blackjack, and a number of factors would be in play. Said Richard:

"The tribe is placed in a position now in which, based upon a compact that was fairly negotiated with the governor (in 2007), they not only had the right to start blackjack, they had an obligation to. They've spent significant sums of money and hired many people to do it. And the state of Florida is now just trying to get a better deal -- more money in return for less consideration. I think there's a good chance now that (federal regulators) would authorize" blackjack.

"The tribe has substantial arguments that they would be able to have blackjack, whether or not they have a compact. I can't guarantee they're going to get it, but (the possibility) is a very strong incentive for the Legislature to work something out. If they don't, the state is going to get no money."

Richard's opinion puts him sharply at odds with some of Tallahassee's most powerful lawyer-lobbyists who represent pari-mutuels, including Ron Book and top Crist fundraiser Brian Ballard. They both say the tribe will not get blackjack without a compact -- no way, no how, because blackjack isn't legal in Florida.

"My friend Barry Richard is wrong on this one," said Book, who represents the West Flagler Kennel Club. "Wrong, wrong, wrong."


Legislators won't join Seminole Gambling Talks



The Legislature's leading voice on the Seminole gambling deal, Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said legislators won't play a role in negotiations between the governor's office and the tribe, casting more doubt on whether the high-stakes deal will come together.

Turning down pleas to play an active role in the talks, Galvano said it's up to Gov. Charlie Crist to negotiate the final terms of a deal with the tribe.

A top lawyer representing the governor, former Crist chief of staff George Lemieux, has said the key question is up to legislators to answer: whether they'll accept changes demanded by the tribe to the deal approved by legislators in May. The Seminoles want lower annual payments to the state, the right to keep all of its blackjack tables and provisions to prevent competitors from getting similar gambling games.

"To make a statement that the ball is in our court -- the ball is out of court," Galvano said.

"The Legislature has done its job," he said. "It’s not the role of myself or any other member of the Legislature to continue to negotiate. We don’t have that authority. For anyone to assume that we are still involved in the negotiations, that’s what voided the original compact to begin with: The governor was doing the Legislature's job. We need to respect our role and let the governor do his job."

Crist and the tribe have until Aug. 31 to reach a final deal, but the talks have hit a snag. If the governor and tribe can salvage the so-called compact by the deadline, legislators would meet in a special session -- likely in the first week of October, leaders say -- to ratify the deal.  by Josh Hafenbrack


Seminole Casino attempts Largest Harley Parade
Posted by Nick Sortal on July 22, 2009


The Seminole Casino Immokalee is trying to attract more than 2,000 bikers in an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the “Largest Harley Parade.”

The plan is for Harley owners to meet at the Germain Arena in Estero at noon on Sunday for a ride to the casino in Immokalee.

To register for the Sunday's hog ride, call 800-218-0007. All Harley riders will receive a certificate for their participation if the record is broken.

The record is believed to be 2,118 Harleys, at a Children's Hospital Toy Run in Denver on Dec. 8, 2002.

To get to the Germain Arena from the north, take I-75 to Exit 128 (Alico Road). Go east on Alico to Ben Hill Griffin Parkway and drive south approximately 3.5 miles. The arena will be on the right. From the south, take I-75 to Exit 123 (Corkscrew Road). Go east on Corkscrew and drive north on Ben Hill Griffin Parkway. The arena will be on the left. The arena address is 11000 Everglades Parkway.



Hard Rock Offering free card game classes
Published: July 7, 2009



TAMPA - The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino wants you to know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, and, of course, when not to walk away.

Starting July 15, the casino will offer free classes on how to play the card games now offered in the cavernous wagering parlor at Orient Road and Hillsborough Avenue.

In November, the casino became the second Seminole casino to deal table card games.

There's a lot more these days than just blackjack and Texas hold'em poker. There's baccarat, mini-baccarat, pai gow poker, let-it-ride, three card poker and Asia poker, too.

There's a lot to learn: What does it mean to double down? What's insurance?

The classes run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and attendees must be 21. Participants get a free "Hit Me" T-shirt.

Instructors will teach the listed games at the top of each hour outside Pit 1, near the south garage entrance.

For information, go to www.seminolehardrocktampa.com.

Hard Rock Casino Offers Ten Dollar Blackjack Tables all
by Nick Sortal  June 26, 2009 Sun-Sentinel



Ten-dollar blackjack players have their wish: The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino promises to have low-limit tables all the time.

Blackjack arrived at the Hard Rock on June 22, 2008, with a minimum bet of $25 and 41 tables carrying $100 minimums. Had minimums been lower during the public's opening-weeks rush, wait times for a table would have been even longer, Hard Rock officialsnoted at the time.

Within a couple of months, the minimums dropped to $15 and, sometimes, to $10 — depending on crowd size. In October, the casino announced it would operate $10 tables from 7 a.m. to noon weekdays. That changed last week, when officials said $10 tables will be available round-the-clock.

There will be at least four $10 tables in the mornings, and about 12 when all of the casino's 64 blackjack tables are running, said Joe Giaimo, the Seminoles' regional vice president of table games.

Why the switch? Customer demand. Also, the action is a little slower this time of year, he said. Las Vegas and Atlantic City have busy summers and slow winters; South Florida has the opposite, he said.

"Business has declined slightly, but not that much," he said. The Seminoles don't release revenue figures.

Having $10 tables has been the No. 1 request pertaining to blackjack, he said.

Seminoles to open largest Casino in Europe



The Seminole Tribe is already the dominant force in gaming in Florida, and now they want to expand their empire to Europe. James Allen, CEO of Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment, announced today the company would partner with two Austrian companies to build an enormous casino in Hungary.

The gambling venue, which would become the largest in all Europe, would see the completion of the first phase of construction by 2012. The Hungarian operation will be placed near the borders shared with Austria and Slovakia. The location is within short drives from Budapest and Vienna.

Allen said the final version of the resort complex would contain 6000 slot machines, 400 gaming tables, two separate poker rooms, and two sports books, along with 1264 hotel rooms. The estimated cost of the project is over $7 billion.

Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment had previously received a gaming license from the Hungarian government in 2006, good for 20 years with an option to extend for an additional 10 years.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida bought Hard Rock International in 2007. The Seminole Tribe had already partnered with the Hard Rock brand in developing casinos in Hollywood, Florida, and Tampa before acquiring control of the brand.

Allen's far-sighted leadership, under the supervision of the Seminole Tribal Council, has resulted in the tribe using its gaming privileges to as much success as any Native American tribe in the US.
Published on June 26, 2009 by Tom Weston


Governor of Florida Approves Seminole Casino Bill

Governor Charlie Crist of Florida signed the legislative compromise on expanded Florida casino gambling Monday, leaving the Seminole Tribe as the only party left to agree. The bill hammered out between the pro-gaming Senate and anti-gambling House now goes to negotiations between the tribe and the governor.

After Crist had arranged a previous deal with the Seminoles, the state Supreme Court said he had overstepped his authority. Seminole casinos have continued to operate under the compact while lawmakers had their say on how to handle the issue of expanded gambling.

Under the new proposal, Seminole casinos in the state will have exclusive rights to blackjack and other table games. In return the tribe must pay the state $150 million annually, plus an adjustable amount based on tribal casino profits.

Crist will have until the end of August to submit an agreement with the tribe back to the legislature for approval, time he will surely need as tribal representatives said the deal might not be acceptable. The original deal required the payment only be $100 million, and the new arrangement contains loopholes tribal lawyers say may allow the state to break the table gaming exclusivity without voiding the compact.

Crist noted that making a deal is paramount, as failure to reach agreement may lead to federal authorities granting the Seminoles the games they want without any payment to the state at all.


Published on June 15, 2009 by K.C. Carmichael

Gaming Deal May Need Alteration

By CATHERINE DOLINSKI

cdolinski@tampatrib.com

Published: June 13, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Lawmakers may have to alter terms for a new gaming compact with the Seminoles before the tribe signs it, a tribe attorney said Friday.

Barry Richard, the Seminoles' attorney in Tallahassee, said he sees no reason why the state and tribe cannot settle on a gaming compact, assuming that Gov. Charlie Crist approves the terms that lawmakers negotiated this spring.

The terms may require some "modification" - specifically with regard to exclusive gaming rights for the tribe, he said.

"It's all related to exclusivity," he said. "The provision that was passed eliminates the guarantee of exclusivity that was in the original compact. It permits gambling to expand in the state significantly, and the tribe still has to continue to make major payments. So, I think that under federal law that doesn't work. And I suspect it is probably not economically viable for the tribe, either."

Richard has represented the Seminoles for years in compact negotiations. Friday, he said he was offering his own opinion rather than speaking for the tribe, which declined through a spokesman to comment.

Crist and the tribe agreed to a compact in late 2007, but the state Supreme Court threw it out the next summer, ruling Crist overstepped his authority by not involving lawmakers. The compact allows Vegas-style slots at the Seminoles' casinos and gave them exclusive rights to offer banked card games such as blackjack.

Lawmakers ultimately coupled a tribal compact bill with one that provides relief for non-tribal gaming facilities as they negotiated new terms this spring. Among them: a $150 million guaranteed annual minimum payment for the state, in exchange for the tribe's exclusive right to keep card games at three of its casinos in Hillsborough and Broward counties. The tribe must remove them from its Immokalee facility.

Friday, several legislators and lobbyists said they thought Crist intended to sign the bill Monday in South Florida. Crist's staff would not confirm that.

Under federal law, the only way Florida can legally claim a cut of Seminoles' gaming revenue is to offer exclusive benefits to the tribe in a compact.

Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, who led House negotiations, said the exclusivity provision is not up for negotiation.

He disagreed with Richard that the bill may fall short of federal requirements, saying it makes sense to adjust what the tribe must pay based on effects on new nontribal gaming rather than simply lifting the tribe's payment obligation altogether.

Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, a lead negotiator on gaming, warned if lawmakers agree to reopen terms for the Seminoles, they're likely to improve the package for the competing parimutuels.




Seminoles Unlikely to accept gambling casino bill

A representative for the Seminole Tribe of Florida says the casino gambling bill passed by the state legislature is not acceptable to the tribe.

An attorney for the Seminole Tribe said Thursday that the tribe is unlikely to accept the casino and gambling compact approved by the Florida legislature. Barry Richard says increased competition and costs in the new proposal make it less palatable to the Seminoles.

The tribe is currently operating under an agreement reached almost two years ago with Governor Charlie Crist. That deal, which gave Seminole casinos exclusive rights to blackjack and other table games in exchange for annual payments of $100 million or more, was found by the state Supreme Court to exceed Crist's authority.

After months of tense negotiations between a state Senate proposing almost unlimited gaming and a House wanting a gambling rollback, a compromise was reached, but the Seminoles weren't part of the restructuring.

Richard says an increased payment to $150 million is a part of the problem for tribe leaders. Worse, the lawmakers inserted a clause potentially allowing the expansion of table games beyond tribal casinos and costing the tribe its exclusives without voiding the deal.

''I feel firmly that the tribe couldn't live with it and the [U.S.] Department of Interior wouldn't approve it,'' Richard told the Miami Herald.

The bill is expected to receive Crist's signature, and would then receive an August 31st deadline for final details and negotiations with tribal authorities.

Some legislators say if the tribe won't accept the basic package, they'll allow the law to revert back to illegalizing all table games and ask the federal government to force blackjack out of Seminole casinos. But Richard says that's a horrible solution.

``If we don't work it out, the Legislature won't get anything at all. That's the worst thing for the state of Florida.''

Published on June 12, 2009 by Preston Lewis

Florida Senate Passes Bill on Indian Gambling

The Associated Press

Published: May 8, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - The Seminole Tribe would be able to keep blackjack at its Tampa and Broward County casinos under a proposed agreement passed by the Senate.

All seven of the tribe's casinos would also be allowed slot machines under the proposed deal that passed Friday on a 31-9 vote.

The House still needs to approve the agreement, which calls for the state to receive at least $150 million a year from the tribe.

Even if both chambers pass the agreement, there's no guarantee the tribe will accept it. The deal isn't as good for the Seminoles as the one they signed with Gov. Charlie Crist in 2007.

The Supreme Court, however, said Crist didn't have the authority to sign that agreement.




Florida Legislature May Continue Blackjack at Seminole Casinos

House officials moved off their proposed rollback of permitted gambling to suggest they could approve retaining blackjack at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood Casino and the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino.

The two widely diverse plans for Florida gaming from the state House and Senate are undergoing negotiations to reach a single compromise, and an early return is the acceptance of blackjack at at least some of the Seminole casinos. House officials moved off their proposed rollback of permitted gambling to suggest they could approve retaining blackjack at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood Casino and the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino.

The Senate plan went beyond Governor Charlie Crist's would-be compact with the tribe, bringing blackjack and expanded poker throughout the state and giving exclusives on craps and roulette to the Seminoles. But the House measure was far more conservative, withdrawing blackjack even at Seminole casinos where it has been played for over a year.

The new proposal would allow the tribe exclusive blackjack in Broward County, where racinos compete with tribal Class III slot machines. Blackjack would be forbidden elsewhere, but the Class III slots would be allowed only to Seminole casinos outside Broward, giving the tribe a major exclusive everywhere it operates.In return, the Seminoles would pay $200 million annually.

Crist solved a gaming crisis about to explode when he took office, but legislators successfully sued to block the compact because they weren't consulted. Now the governor reminds lawmakers of the severe budget deficit the state faces.

"If it (a gambling agreement) doesn’t happen, you know, I may have to cut things out of this budget that are put in there," said Crist. "There are important things they (legislators) want to do around the state. In some ways the Seminole compact money gives us the opportunity to do those things."

Asked if his words were meant as a threat to state officials, Crist replied, "Please don’t characterize it that way. It’s not. It’s just reality."

Published on May 3, 2009 by Preston Lewis