Oklahoma gambles big

CATOOSA, Okla. — Rising three stories along Interstate 44 and lit up Las Vegas-style, the Cherokee Casino Resort’s extravagant sign alone speaks to the $80 million transformation of the old bingo hall in Catoosa.

Authorities consider it a sign of the times in a state on the verge of explosive growth in Indian gambling.

Now that Oklahoma voters have cleared the way for tribes to offer new and potentially more lucrative games, a wave of luxury is expected to sweep through the landscape of tin-roofed bingo centers.

“I think you’re going to see the continued migration from these sort of trailer-house operations to these big, elaborate destination facilities,” says Scott Meacham, the state’s finance director and chief negotiator of gambling compacts with tribes.

The Cherokee Nation’s 150-room chandelier-draped hotel and casino opened outside Tulsa just before the November vote. In Durant, work on the Choctaw Nation’s new 7,000-seat entertainment coliseum, casino and expanded hotel is well under way.

The Chickasaw Nation has upgraded several facilities and is looking into creating new destination centers. As the new games come into play, more tribes are expected to join the trend.

Passage of State Question 712 permits the state to compact with tribes for card games and electronic bingo games that work more like Las Vegas slot machines. Voters also approved electronic games at three pari-mutuel horse tracks, two of which are tribally owned.

“We had our eye on this the whole time,” said Osage Chief Jim Gray of the measure’s passage, which may help the tribe move faster in building its new north Tulsa casino.

The new law is expected to bring 10,000 new electronic games to the state, for a total of about 30,000 games, said Marcus Prater, senior vice president of marketing for Bally Gaming and Systems.

Only four states would have more machines, he said. They are Nevada, New Jersey, Mississippi and California.

“When you’re making more money and have more machines, you have ability to do nicer things with your facilities,” Mr. Prater said. “You’ll have tribes building bigger, newer places.”

In exchange for the new games, the compacts give the state a share of the gambling profits and some oversight.

Tribes closely guard their revenue figures, but Mr. Meacham said gambling profits total about $500 million a year statewide. He estimates the state’s share will amount to about $71 million annually for education.

Nine of Oklahoma’s 23 gaming tribes had approved the compacts by mid-December, and Mr. Meacham expects more to follow.

The new games likely will be in place by midspring if the Department of the Interior approves each compact, he said.

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