Banked card games at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida have proved popular with the public since they were introduced on 22 June. However, the Florida Supreme Court voted 7-0 that the compact signed by the Seminole Tribe and Governor Charlie Crist, which allowed blackjack and baccarat at tribal casinos in return for substantial payments into state coffers, was invalid as Crist had exceeded his authority by not getting approval from the Florida Legislature.

The card games continue and will continue until the legal process is terminated. Under federal law the Seminoles are entitled to operate Class III gaming machines and other casino games when a valid compact has been signed by the governor. Until the Florida Supreme Court rules that the compact is not valid the card games remain at the tribal casinos. So far the Court has given an opinion on the matter, that the Class III machines are legitimate but that the Legislature must sanction the banked card games.

Yesterday the Seminoles asked the Court to reconsider, arguing that its interpretation of federal law is flawed. In the 90s the Florida Lottery ran a television show with a banked card game and the tribe contends that this shows that the state’s prohibition on Class III card games is not total. Opponents of the tribal compact say that the Seminole action is a delaying tactic so that they get longer to run the card games before the Supreme Court shuts them down.

The Seminole tribe never surrendered to the US government and is well used to battling in the courts. They became the first tribe in the nation to offer high-stakes gambling when they opened a bingo hall in Hollywood, near Fort Lauderdale, in 1979. Three years later, having survived a legal challenge, the bingo operation expanded to Tampa. The tribe had been negotiating for around 17 years for Class III gaming before the present compact was signed. If the compact is annulled the state will lose millions of dollars paid from Seminole gaming revenue. (E-07.18.07)

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