Indian Gaming > Oklahoma tribes bring in crowds with card games

May 09, 2005

Oklahoma tribes bring in crowds with card games

Oklahoma tribes are seeing big success with the addition of Class III card games to their casinos.

Thousands of people are going to casinos to play blackjack and poker, The Oklahoman reports. They are attracted by the popularity of the games and big payouts like a $250,000 quarterly blackjack tournament at the Thunderbird Casino, owned by the Absentee Shawnee Tribe.

The Cherokee Nation's Catoosa casino has 36 blackjack tables and 39 poker tables, the most of any tribe, the paper said. The Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes' Lucky Star casino has 12 blackjack tables and 11 poker tables and has plans for 20 to 30 more. The Absentee Shawnee casino has 28 card tables and also plans on more.

Under the tribal-state compact, tribes are required to share a percentage of revenues from the card games with the state. During the first two full months of operation, the state took in $853,294 from tribes, The Oklahoman reported.

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Legalization of card games drawing thousands to casinos (The Oklahoman 5/9)
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