[Kevin]

CB: I believe that for Indian Casinos to be legal, the tribes have to compact with the state. While the states don't usually exercise direct regulatory authority, they usually have as a contractual obligation of the compact the payment of certain taxes and fees (which is fair because the casinos take a helluvalot of infrastructure to get going.

I know that there's at least one casino in southern Oklahoma which is currently raking in huge profits because Texas hasn't compacted with its tribes.

Another interesting thing the tribes can do is buy regular land, i.e., a downtown city block, and deed it into a certain kind of trust administered by the feds. That has the effect of making that land the same as tribal land.

In Oklahoma City right now, a landless tribe, the Shawnee I think, bought a very well-situated piece of land right off of I-35, between Edmond and Oklahoma City (Edmond, being a suburb to the north of OKC, generally a pretty well-off place). They've been trying to deed that land into a trust so that they can build a HUGE resort/casino, complete with a performance hall, bowling alley, casinos, hotel, etc. Very controversial stuff.