Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange is throttling the life out of the Cotton State’s electronic bingo industry. But, thanks to tribal sovereignty, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians has been able to this to its advantage. When Wind Creek Wetumpka Casino & Hotel opens, the tribe will have 6,620 VLTs scattered across three facilities (one of which will be retired eventually), over a third of them in its impressive-sounding new casino, which comes complete with a shark tank. (Default on that marker at your own peril!) Meanwhile, Strange hasn’t given up on trying to put the Creek out of business. He’s pursuing a lawsuit that was moved to federal court, a venue traditionally sympathetic to tribal interests.
As unlikely as it would have seemed a week ago, Caesars 
Entertainment‘s precipitate withdrawal from Massachusetts is setting off a muted domino effect. While Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake still has full confidence in the company’s ability to finish and open Horseshoe Baltimore, the Boston debacle and a Treasury Department investigation could complicate matters. “We are gathering information and will give these matters the attention they deserve,” ominously stated the Maryland Gaming Control Agency. At least Gary Loveman (pictured) can say he’s got the biggest pair of dice in town. (Suffolk Downs, meanwhile, is moving forward as though it had never heard of Caesars.)
Perhaps the Menominee Tribe made its case after all. Today was the date appointed for Gov. Scott Walker (R) to rule on the tribe’s casino application. But Walker has suddenly postponed the day of reckoning. While Walker reviews the latest proposal from the Menominee, “We’re saying our prayers and putting down tobacco to the Creator,” said tribal Chairman Craig Corn. It’s difficult to see how the Dairyland project doesn’t create a net increase in gambling positions, despite some creative math by the Menominee.
However, they may have found some compact language the finesses the opposition of the Potowatomi and Ho-Chunk tribes. “Just because you buy insurance for certain catastrophes doesn’t mean you’re consenting to those catastrophes taking place,” harrumphed Ho-Chunk President Jon Greendeer. If I had to make a guess, Walker is spending some quality time with copies of previous compacts, looking for a precedent upon which to rest his decision.
