Senate Rejects Casino Expansion Bill
Senate rejects bill opening Oklahoma casinos to roulette, dice
by Dale Denwalt
An Oklahoma Senate committee rejected legislation that would allow Las Vegas-style roulette and dice games in tribal casinos.
The main tenets of Senate Bill 857 were part of a revenue package negotiated between House Republicans and Democrats and could have brought in $20 million for next year’s budget.
If adopted, it would have allowed casinos to install traditional dice and roulette games instead of ones that rely on playing cards to determine odds. It also would have allowed tribes to run sports betting if the federal government authorized it in Oklahoma.
On Thursday, state Rep. Scott Inman suggested the bill was introduced by House leadership as a way to insert the tribes’ influence into revenue talks. That way, he said, a few more Democrats and Republicans might go along with a proposed cigarette tax increase.