On the day of the deadline, Florida Governor Charlie Crist inked a revised gaming compact with the Seminoles on Monday.  No surprise, revenue sharing is at the heart of the deal.

The revised compact gives the state a minimum annual payment of $150 million for 20 years, and up to 25% of gaming revenues.  That's expected to be some $6.8 billion in state coffers.  The payments to the state would be earmarked largely for public education.

In exchange for these near record-setting payments, the revised compact gives the Tribe some limited exclusivity in operating casino games.  The deal allows the Tribe to offer slots as well as blackjack and other banked card games at all seven of the Tribe's casinos.  The Tribe, taking the position that the original compact governs its games until a new compact is in place, has been operating blackjack games at its Hard Rocks in Hollywood and Tampa.  At the same time, the Tribe has been depositing revenue-sharing payments due under the original compact into a reserve fund, which now tops $160 million.

The exclusive right to offer slots and banked card games has dog track owners barking.  The deal does take into account the state's commercial gaming interests.  Slots are already legalized in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, and the revised compact would allow tracks to offer no-limit poker games and extend their hours state-wide.  Unfair favoritism, track owners charge -- but of course, federal law and practice requires that the state offer something in exchange for any revenue sharing, much less the relatively exorbitant payments under the revised compact.  A "terrible deal for the people of Florida," the track owners say, predicting that jobs will be lost and tax revenue forfeited because the tracks won't be able to compete the the Tribe's casinos.

Read more: Seminoles, Crist Agree to Gambling Pact, Miami Herald
Read more: Dog Deal: Track Owners Upset About New Seminole Casino Proposal, naplesnews.com