Indianz.Com > Indian Gaming

January 23, 2012

Non-Indian law firm receives a cut of tribal gaming revenues

Howard Dickstein, a non-Indian attorney, has received a share of gaming revenues from at least two of the tribes he has represented, The Sacramento Bee reports. Dickstein and his firm received 1 percent of profits from the casino owned by...

January 16, 2012

Menominee Nation gains new off-reservation casino partner

The Menominee Nation of Wisconsin has found a new backer for its off-reservation casino. The tribe will sign an agreement with KMD Consulting Services of California, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The firm replaces the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, which...

January 10, 2012

Supreme Court declines Omaha Tribe casino agreement case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a casino contract dispute affecting the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. The tribe entered into 11 contracts with StoreVisions, a non-Indian company, to perform work on a casino, racetrack and other facilities....

January 5, 2012

Pojoaque Pueblo to raise immunity defense in gaming deal suit

Pojoaque Pueblo in New Mexico hasn't waived its sovereign immunity, the tribe's top attorney said in response to a lawsuit filed by a former gaming partner. The tribe is being sued in federal court by The Fine Point Group. But...

January 4, 2012

Pojoaque Pueblo faces lawsuit in federal court for gaming deal

Pojoaque Pueblo in New Mexico is being sued in federal court over a gaming agreement with a consulting company. The tribe's court ruled that the tribe illegally terminated the agreement with The Fine Point Group. The company is now seeking...

December 13, 2011

Pojoaque Pueblo loses decision in gaming agreement case

Pojoaque Pueblo in New Mexico failed to follow its own laws when it revoked the gaming license of a consulting company, a judge for the tribe's court ruled on Monday. The tribe hired The Fine Point Group to manage the...

December 12, 2011

Shingle Springs Band in state court with old casino partner

The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians of California could owe millions of dollars to its former gaming partner. The tribe and Sharp Image opened a facility in 1996 but it closed a year later. The tribe subsequently with Lakes...

December 9, 2011

Mashantucket Tribe promotes casino under new partnership

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut entered into a one-year agreement to promote its casino at the Mystic Aquarium. The aquarium's theater will be called the Foxwoods Marine Theater at Mystic Aquarium. The Foxwoods name will be featured in...

November 29, 2011

Malaysian company with ties to tribes eyes a casino in Florida

Genting, a Malaysian company with a history in Indian Country, is seeking to build a mega-casino in Florida. Genting plans to spend $3.8 billion on a resort with six towers, 50 restaurants and a shopping mall on the Miami waterfront....

November 23, 2011

Lac Vieux Desert Band lost $8.5M in bad Mexican casino deal

The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians lost $8.5 million in a shady deal to open a casino in Mexico. Juan Jose Rojas-Cardona, who has a criminal record in the U.S., owns 60 permits for casinos in...

November 15, 2011

Pokagon Band brings a Hard Rock cafe to casino expansion

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians in Michigan will add a Hard Rock Cafe to its original casino. The tribe is undertaking an expansion of the Four Winds Casino. The 12,000-square-foot Hard Rock Cafe is now a part of the...

November 10, 2011

Credit ratings lowered for Dry Creek Rancheria gaming debt

The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians of California has reached a deal restructure $200 million in gaming debt but that hasn't stopped its credit ratings from being lowered. Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s lowered the tribe's...

October 25, 2011

Laguna Pueblo sends plan to operate casino at fairgrounds

Laguna Development Corporation, the economic development arm of Laguna Pueblo, has submitted a bid to operate a casino at the New Mexico State Fair Grounds. LDC is proposing a $30 million, 36,000-square-foot casino. Expo New Mexico, which operates the fair...

October 21, 2011

Mohegan Tribe to bring new look to casino slot machines

The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut signed a contract with Bally Technologies to update the interfaces on more than 6,000 slot machines. The majority of the machines at Mohegan Sun will bear Balley's iVIEW system. The company also will supply new...

October 18, 2011

Casino pays more to management firm than to First Nations

A Native casino has paid more to a non-Native management company than to the seven First Nations that own it, CBC News reports. The South Beach Casino, which opened in 2005, has paid more than $43 million to Hemisphere Gaming....

September 30, 2011

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe reportedly owes $25M to investor

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts owes $25 million to investor Herb Strather, The Cape Cod Times reports. Strather, a developer from Michigan, bankrolled the tribe's federal recognition effort. Now he wants a payout from any gaming facility that the...

September 9, 2011

Big Sandy Rancheria in court over disputed casino agreement

The Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians in California is seeking to cancel its gaming agreement. The tribe partnered with Brownstone LLC, a subsidiary of American Vantage, to build a casino with 2,000 slot machines and a hotel with...

August 15, 2011

Mississippi Choctaw casino paid off big for non-Indian executive

A non-Indian man whose companies are at the center of a federal investigation into the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians was paid well by the tribe's casino, The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. Doug Pattison was hired as CEO of the...

August 11, 2011

Pokagon Band paid $24.5M for early exit from gaming agreement

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan paid $24.5 million to exit its gaming management contract with Lakes Entertainment. The tribe opened the Four Winds Casino in August 2007. Lakes was managing the facility until the tribe exercised its...

August 4, 2011

Mississippi Choctaw candidate wants to kick out gaming firm

Phyliss J. Anderson, a candidate for chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, said she will cut ties with a non-Indian gaming firm if elected. Mercury Gaming and its marketing arm, the Titan Agency, receive $200,000 a month...

August 1, 2011

Mississippi Choctaw debt rating takes a dive after raid on casino

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians got some more bad news after the FBI raided its casino on June 12. Two days later, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the $200 million in securities owed by the Choctaw Resort Development Enterprise from...

July 26, 2011

Elk Valley Rancheria files claim against former gaming partner

The Elk Valley Rancheria of California is seeking $1 million in bankruptcy court from a former gaming partner. The tribe invested money in a Las Vegas casino. But the deal fell through and developer R. Shawn Ellis declared bankruptcy. “Ellis...

July 25, 2011

Mississippi Choctaw casino sees small return on big investment

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians spends at least $1.3 million a year to woo gamblers from Atlanta, Georgia, but few of them are actually visiting the reservation, The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. At the suggestion of a non-Indian company, the...

July 8, 2011

Mohegan Tribe seeks to drum up business for new gaming group

The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut is looking to drum up business for is new gaming group. The Mohegan Gaming Advisors first made news in the Connecticut press several months ago. The tribe officially announced the group yesterday, drawing more attention...

July 7, 2011

Mohegan Tribe plans to expand gaming brand across the nation

The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut officially announced the launch of the Mohegan Gaming Advisors. The Mohegans want to help other tribes and other gaming companies. The new company will pursue management contracts and consulting agreements. “In traditions handed down centuries...

June 10, 2011

Business outlines complaints about Pojoaque Pueblo casino

The Albuquerque Journal obtained a resignation letter that a consulting company sent to Pojoaque Pueblo of New Mexico. Randall Fine of The Fine Point Group was brought on to manage the Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino in January. He says...

June 6, 2011

Elk Valley Rancheria warns investors about former partner

The Elk Valley Rancheria of California issued a warning to the public about one of its former partners The tribe loaned $480,000 to R. Shawn Ellis for a casino resort in Las Vegas. The plans fell through and Ellis and...

June 1, 2011

Candidates for Eastern Cherokee chief talk gaming issues

The five candidates for principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina discussed gaming issues at a forum last week. Incumbent Michell Hicks has faced questions about the tribe's gaming-related debt of nearly $1 billion. Most...

Elk Valley Rancheria seeks money from ex-casino partner

The Elk Valley Rancheria of California is trying to recover more than $1 million from its former gaming partner. The tribe was working with R. Shawn Ellis, whose companies have declared bankruptcy. The tribe says it's owed $480,000 -- plus...

May 17, 2011

Santa Ana Pueblo bought naming rights to struggling arena

Santa Ana Pueblo in New Mexico puts its name on a struggling arena whose management company has cost communities across the nation tens of millions of dollars, The New York Times reports. The $47 million Santa Ana Star Center in...