Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

The hottest gambling action in Washington would get even hotter under a new compact proposed between the state and the Spokane Tribe of Indians. Under the deal, to be announced at a news conference in Seattle today, the tribe would be the first in the state to legally operate cash-operated, single-push-button video-gambling machines that have been popular cash cows elsewhere but have been banned in Washington. For the Spokanes, the compact would end 15 years of litigation over the tribe's gambling operations, which have been running without a formal compact. And that would help the tribe expand to better compete with neighboring tribes. "This is a real good day for the tribe," said Gerald Nicodemus, secretary of the Spokane tribal business council. It may benefit other tribes, which could also make a play for the new machines, potentially triggering an explosion in the video-slot business statewide. Washington's tribal casinos are generating about $1.2 billion a year, or 65 percent of all annual gambling revenue, using the older, more cumbersome machines that take paper tickets instead of cash. That's one reason the proposal has some powerful detractors, such as state Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Seattle, who chairs the Senate Ways and Means Committee and sits on the State Gambling Commission that will vote on the compact. Wednesday she called the proposal "really offensive." "This is way beyond what the public wants to swallow," Prentice said. "I can't imagine how we can possibly approve this."