Connecticut policymakers are listening to tribal concerns about online gambling -- including current illegal Internet gaming and the possibility of future state-regulated Internet gaming.  In this CBS story, representatives from the Mashantucket Pequot and the Mohegan Tribes held out the carrot of the tribes' capacity to offer online gaming, should the state choose to legalize it.  As everybody knows, Connecticut profits from Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun -- this year, the tribes' payments to the state approached $360 million.  Negotiating online gaming with the tribes is an opportunity for the state to confine legalized Internet gambling and possibly to profit from increased tribal-state revenue sharing.  But the tribal representatives brought out a stick, too, stating

NIGC Chair Tracie Stevens issued a response to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK).  Earlier this month, Coburn and Sullivan had requested information about the legality of the Kialegees' construction of a casino in suburban Tulsa.

Stevens acknowledged that IGRA requires a tribe to operate Indian gaming only on "Indian lands," which has a specific legal definition, as explained in our earlier posts.

We're listening to the interview of Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier on CEM Audio Edge.  Heidi is speaking with host Valerie Red-Horse on various issues related to Indian gaming, particularly with regard to regulatory law.  We've had the chance to present alongside Heidi at many conferences.  As the partner coordinator of the Indian Law&Gaming Law Practice Group for Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P, she is extremely knowledgeable about the nuts and bolts of tribal gaming regulation.

State officials in Oklahoma are working to halt the construction of a casino in Broken Arrow, a suburb of Tulsa.  The tribe behind the casino is the Kialegee Tribal Town.

The Kialegee are a federally recognized tribe with about 430 members, based in Wetumka, and historically part of the Muskogee Creek Confederacy.  Last spring, the tribe signed a gaming compact with Oklahoma.

In our recent article on tribes and online gaming (see our last blog post), we introduce our concept of the Indian Gaming Ethic.  Here's a short excerpt from our article:

In December 2011, Indian Country Today ran a short piece on recommended gaming books, perfect for holiday gift giving.  The list includes our first book, Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise, by Steven Andrew Light and Kathryn R.L. Rand (University Press of Kansas, 2005).  The book is described as “well-balanced” and “offer[ing] a more comprehensive analysis of the industry. The authors’ succinct delivery starts with gaming’s history and details the development of Indian law and policy.”

Minnesota lawmakers once again will consider the expansion of legalized gambling in the state.  Today, Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, along with Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, and Rep. Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont, are expected to introduce legislation that will authorize gaming machines at two race tracks.  The proposed racinos locations are gaming devices at Running Aces, along Interstate 35 near Forest Lake, and Shakopee’s Canterbury Park.  While the two horse parks already can offer poker and gaming tables, the addition of slot machines would put them in direct competition with tribal casinos.