"Just days after his election as chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association in January 2010, Danny Tucker, chairman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation near San Diego, expressed his concerns about internet gambling.

Testifying before a November 2011 hearing by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Glen Gobin, vice chairman of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington state, said his community viewed internet gambling as “a direct threat to the economic growth in Indian Country.”

Tucker and Gobin were not alone in their opinions. Most of approximately 240 American Indian tribes operating casinos were angered in late 2009 when Congress began considering legislation to legalize, tax and regulate internet gambling. Tribes were convinced cyberspace gambling—even if restricted to player-banked poker games—would seriously impact visitation to what are now 460 casinos scattered throughout largely rural reservations in 28 states.

Indigenous leaders, lawyers and lobbyists also feared federal legislation would erode Indian self-governance and interfere with tribal-state compacts defining the roles of tribal and state casino regulatory agencies. Many compacts give tribes exclusivity to operate casinos in exchange for a state share of gambling revenue.

The fears remain. But the American Indian casino industry’s position on internet gambling has undergone a major transformation. And tribal thoughts on cyberspace wagering continue to evolve. When representatives of 260 tribes attending a July National Indian Gaming Association summit in Washington, D.C. were asked if they viewed online wagering as an opportunity, most in the audience raised their hands."

Get the Story:
Second Thoughts (Global Gaming Business September 2012)

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