The State of Texas has decided to stop pursuing its decades-long effort to end electronic bingo gaming on the Alabama-Coushatta reservation in Deep East Texas.
The decision follows the U.S. Supreme Court weighing in last month on a separate-but-similar matter involving an electronic bingo operation on the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo reservation in El Paso. The Court ruled that the Ysleta nation could continue to operate electronic bingo because Texas law does not explicitly prohibit bingo but allows for its regulation.
Consequently, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton informed the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that his office would not challenge a lower court’s decision to allow the Alabama-Coushatta tribal casino Naskila Gaming to keep running. The gaming facility is located roughly 75 miles northeast of Houston.
“The families that depend on Naskila Gaming for their paychecks are breathing a sigh of relief,” stated Ricky Sylestine, chairman of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas Tribal Council, per Bluebonnet News. “For years, the state’s efforts have created uncertainty for our Tribe, Naskila Gaming employees, and our East Texas neighbors. Now we can put those threats behind us and look to a brighter future.”
While the Supreme Court’s ruling was relatively narrow and, in the short term, only impacted the two reservation operations and their communities, it comes at a time when different types of gambling operations are testing their luck in the state.
Nearly a dozen poker “social clubs” have sprung up across the state over the past several years, having devised business models that largely seem to evade Texas’ strict anti-gambling laws.
The Supreme Court ruling may open the door to legalizing casinos in Texas, according to securities analyst Barry Jonas, per Seeking Alpha. Other client notes cited by the financial news outlet suggest gaming investors are betting on expanding gambling operations in the Lone Star State.
For its part, Las Vegas Sands stated it plans on working with the Texas Legislature to put a casino referendum on the ballot this year.
