Seminole Tribe Rights To Offer Blackjack Still In Dispute

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With the dispute between the Seminole Tribe and Florida lawmakers regarding the right to continue offering blackjack games at its casinos is still in a gridlock due to different arguments from both the State and the Tribe representatives. With the decision still has not been taken regarding this issue, it has made it difficult for the Revenue Estimating Conference to estimate how much revenue the State will be able to receive from the card game.

With the deadline arriving at the end of July and if the Seminole Tribe of Florida is unable to get another deal going, they will have to clear out these games from their casinos within 90 days. The main reason the State is still hesitant about re-signing the deal is due to the exclusive nature of the deal.

The Indian casinos ask for exclusive rights to offer blackjack, leaving other casinos without this possibility, but in return, they had guaranteed the State a total of $1 billion over the time of the contract; which is by no means a small amount. You can now understand why both parties want a deal to happen.

The Tribe representatives have debated that the State allowed other casinos the use of electronic blackjack and player-banked poker, which is still in a grey area of whether the contract was breached or not. Last year, the tribe contributed $248.5 million to the state. Florida must weigh the options and see which would be most beneficial for the taxpayers.