Indian Gaming

Wisconsin newspaper doesn't want Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa to start making payday loans at its casino:

Casinos exist because of patrons’ willingness to gamble, to bet against often long odds for the possibility of a big payoff. The casino wants your money, but it doesn’t want you to go broke in the process. This we understand, and our published support for the proposed Menominee Nation casino in Kenosha should make it clear we’re not opposed to gambling.

We are, however, opposed to casino operators getting into the payday loan business, or vice versa. That is what the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa in Vilas County are on the verge of doing.

Beginning in May, the Chippewa opened three online payday loan companies, two of which went online in December, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Sunday. The tribe also set itself up to operate a real-money online casino: If online gambling were to become legal nationwide or in Wisconsin, Chippewa President Tom Paulson said, “we could just flip a switch” and convert its online casino’s current games — which involve winning and using play money — into those taking bets using real money.

Given that the Chippewa already offer online payday loans — the type of loan which invariably involves considerably higher interest rates than those you’ll get at Johnson Bank, Chase or Tri City — having that same institution allow you to put real money in a game of Texas Hold ‘Em with a single click is a chilling prospect.

Get the Story:
Editorial: Casinos shouldn’t lend money (The Racine Journal Times 1/6)

Also Today:
Lac du Flambeau Chippewa enter payday loan business with eye to online gambling (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 12/29)