Tribes question efforts to regulate gambling on the Internet

Wednesday, March 7, 2012  

A panel at the iGaming North America Conference in Las Vegas discussed Internet gaming and tribes.

Sheila Morago, the executive director of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, said online gaming could force tribes to renegotiate their Class III compacts. Most compacts promise some form of exclusivity, which could end if states allow Internet wagering.

"We can all agree that no one wants to open their state compact," Morago said at the conference, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Leslie Lohse, the chairwoman of the California Tribal Business Alliance, said no one is really talking about the effects of Internet gaming in Indian Country. Tribal casinos took in $26.7 billion in 2010, money that went to essential tribal programs.

"What's going to satisfy us? That we really sit down and hammer out the nuts and bolts of this," Lohse said, the Associated Press reported.

Get the Story:
Indian tribes concerned about state efforts on online poker (The Las Vegas Review-Journal 3/7)
Tribal misgivings over online betting (AP 3/7)