"When an experienced poker player is dealt a winning hand, his next move is to fatten the pot. That must be the plan behind Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's call for a comprehensive strategy to determine the future of legalized gambling in New York.

That's fine as long as it doesn't take too long -- and the ultimate outcome isn't at the expense of Southampton's Shinnecock Nation, which is well along in its proposal to open a full casino at Belmont Park. The tribe's plan is critical to the economic health of Nassau County.

To get the most for the state coffers and resolve myriad legal and political Indian gaming issues, Cuomo understandably wants time to assess the strengths of all the players at the table and determine how to leverage their needs. Raising the stakes right now are raceway operators who want to expand beyond video slot machines and are betting that New Yorkers would support eliminating the state constitutional ban on gambling.

But that's a frightening prospect for the tribes, which are not bound by the state restriction. Three of them -- the Senecas, Oneidas and Mohawks -- are already running full casinos upstate, while Long Island's Shinnecocks, who now have federal recognition, are trying to get a piece of the action downstate. The Shinnecock effort to open a casino at Belmont no doubt is one reason the state's eight racino operators -- soon to be nine, when video slots open at Aqueduct in Queens -- are trying to cut out the tribes as middlemen."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Cuomo ups the ante on gambling (Newsday 8/16)

Related Stories:
Commentary: Don't rush to expand gaming options in New York (8/15)
WAMC: Commercial casinos in New York still a few years away (8/12)
Editorial: Gaming creates an 'illusion' of economic development (8/11)
New York governor considers expansion of non-Indian gaming (8/10)