The following are American jurisdictions having recent activity concerning legal gambling.
* – States and territories with gaming devices are marked with an asterisk: *
! – States with at least one casino (defined as having both banking card games and slot-like machines) are marked with an exclamation point: !
!* NORTH DAKOTA – Charity blackjack in hotels and four Indian casinos with slots; Spirit Lake has 500 slots, blackjack, craps, poker, bingo and keno. On Aug.1 2001, charitable gaming organizations were permitted to raise the betting limit for blackjack from $5 to $25. The increase was to allow them to compete with tribal casinos, after the tribal limits were raised from $50 to $250. In 1996, a proposal for video gaming was defeated at the polls. A State Lottery is dead: voters rejected it in 1986 — one of only four states to do so this century — and in 2001 the House soundly rejected putting the issue on the ballot again.
OHIO – The Legislature is considering legalizing 1,500 State Lottery operated VLTs (video poker and slots) at seven racetracks, or possibly letting it go to the voters. Gov. Bob Taft is opposed. An Internet bingo game for charity, limited to in-state players, opened in November, 2001. In 1996, a riverboat casino initiative was defeated 62% to 38%. Casino bills and initiatives have been attempted every other year for decades and always failed.
OKLAHOMA – Twenty-three of Oklahoma’s 39 federally recognized tribes have a form of gaming; the Chickasaw Nation alone has 10 locations. Some tribes offer “blackjack tournaments” where players supposedly compete against each other. But a federal judge denied a tribe’s request for electronic games similar to slot machines at its casino near Norman. The Absentee Shawnee Tribe and the Seminole Nation have filed suit to get Casino Malaysia slots (which are illegal in Oklahoma). A bill to allow gaming machines at the state’s four tracks is pending. In Feb. 1998, voters resoundingly defeated a casino initiative, after the sponsor withdrew. In 1996, voters failed to approve a State Lottery: Gov. David Walters’ pro-lottery forces had been far out-spent by horse-racing interests. The Legislature won’t approve a second attempt. A federal Court of Appeals ordered the state to negotiate for tribal Class III gambling, but the case was dismissed following the U.S. Supreme Court Seminole decision. The Quapaw Tribe is said to have the largest all-electronic bingo hall in North America, 800 seats, in Miami, Oklahoma, according to e-BingoNews.
!* OREGON – The State Lottery, which runs almost 8,900 video poker machines, maximum of five per location, wants to add regular slot machines. It has the power, but Gov. John Kitzhaber is an opponent of legal gambling. The state constitution prohibits casinos. The State Supreme Court ruled a store with non-gaming business and only five gaming devices is not a “casino.” But the state has entered into compacts giving its tribes full casinos. Anti-gaming forces, led by the Rev. Tom Grey, failed to collect enough signatures to get a referendum on the Nov. 2000 general election ballot to outlaw video poker. Charities can run casino nights. The State Lottery takes bets on professional sports events. A Marion County judge dismissed a lawsuit in 2001 challenging the 1984 ballot measure that created the Oregon Lottery, because there is a 10 year statute of limitations.
