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OKLAHOMA CITY (Associated Press) - A small Oklahoma-based tribe plans to launch an international gambling website after an arbitrator ruled that the plan does not violate state or federal laws.
The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma asked a federal judge in Oklahoma City last week to certify the arbitrator’s award. The arbitrator made the ruling in November.
The tribe hopes to debut the website sometime in 2016, The Oklahoman reports. The site would allow players from other countries to play casino games in real time, and will initially offer poker with plans to add bingo, blackjack and other games.
Florida software company Universal Entertainment Group has a software licensing deal with the tribe to launch the website. Company manager Isaias Almira said the site would be available to players in states that have legalized online gambling, in addition to the international market.
“If the judge agrees to the thing, it could be launched within a matter of weeks,” Almira said.
Michael McNutt, a spokesman for Gov. Mary Fallin, said the ruling made by the arbitrator could let other Oklahoma tribes launch similar international gambling websites.
It’s not clear how much revenue the Iowa Tribe’s website could generate for the state. The percentage the tribe would pay to Oklahoma would increase based on website traffic, McNutt said in an email.
The tribe and Fallin agreed in September to submit to arbitration the issue of whether Oklahoma’s gaming compact with tribes permits some Internet gaming operations. The arbitrator, retired judge Charles Chapel, wrote in his ruling that “use of the Internet is merely using technology to play covered games as a way to increase tribal revenues.”
“It does not extend or restrict the scope of the games and does not amend the compact in any way,” Chapel wrote.
The Iowa Tribe’s business efforts include two casinos in Perkins and Chandler.
