whats the thing about indian casinos

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i've noticed two references in the simpsons recently to american indians owning casinos
whats this about?

― robin (robin), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

i have seen several things with this featured in them, too - you mean reservations owning casinos as a group asset?

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:36 (twenty-one years ago)

is this not known about in the UK?

Can we make it so every post in this thread ends with a question?

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Are reservations (are they still called that?) not exempt from the gambling laws, meaning there is good money to be made from offering the only casinos between Atlantic City and Vegas?

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:40 (twenty-one years ago)

there is money to be made because suckers will go to Indian casinos, not realizing that since they are not state-regulated, they don't have to guarantee a certain percentage return to the casino-goer.

Also, Martin, many states in the US have forms of legalized gambling now. There are many casinos between Atlantic City and Las Vegas, and more on the way (as desperate politicians continue to see legalized gambling as a way to increase tax revenue in a slumping economy).

So, um, what you gotta say about that?

― hstencil, Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:42 (twenty-one years ago)

I was actually just thinking about starting a thread about Res casinos. Would you feel bad about visiting one? I'm conflicted about it myself.
Yes, res's are exempt from the laws, but there are many other casinos betweeen Vegas and AC. I live in the Chicago suburbs and there's one about 10 miles from here. They get around the law by being on riverboats. Pretty stupid, huh?

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't know what it refers to
in nelson's house there is a sticker on the wall saying something like "bomb the indians and take their casinos" and then in the episode where bart and lisa are helping in the old folks home there is a one flew over the cuckoo's nest reference when an indian guy turns up,but it turns out he's just handing out leaflets asking people to vote on proposition 47,something to do with casinos

x-post-that must be it

― robin (robin), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Riverboat casinos are not exempt from state laws, oops. That's why there's an Illinois Gaming Commission that regulates them in your state (yes, even the ones on "riverboats").

― hstencil, Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

(haha--i ended that with a question w/o even realizing it! You believe me, don't you?)

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:46 (twenty-one years ago)

why would you feel bad about visiting them?

― robin (robin), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

is this not known about in the UK?
oh man.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Obviously I don't know how this whole riverboat casino thing works.
There's a state law banning gambling in IL, no? And somehow they get around that law by operating on waterways, right? This doesn't mean they are exempt from ALL laws and regulations.

(btw, my friend noticed another recurring element in the Simpsons: there are two fantasy sequences where someone gets extremely fat. One with Bart and one with Lisa. In both, they speak with a Southern accent. Lisa asks for a 'prying stick' to help her get up and Bart mentions his 'cleaning rod')

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:54 (twenty-one years ago)

(that's cuz the Simpsons writers are bigoted ivy-leaguers)

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:56 (twenty-one years ago)

My friend Arjun is known as the Indian with no reservations.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:56 (twenty-one years ago)

(who don't think educated Northerners can get fat---hello, Ted Kennedy!)

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

but oops not all casinos in Illinois are on waterways, I don't think. They've been trying to put a casino in Rosemont by O'Hare for ages, and that wouldn't be on a waterway. Casinos there are regulated by the same commission that regulates horse racing (I think), another form of gambling that is legal in Illinois. Even in a state like Nevada where gambling is more prevalent, the casinos are regulated by a state commission and required (at least for slots) to give a certain percentage return to gamers. I don't believe it's the case for Indian casinos, although they may be subject to some sort of federal regulation.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Zoning laws for reservation casinos vary wildly from state to state, too. There's a casino even within Seattle city limits, up in the far corner in the north west part, near Shoreline or Edmonds. I'm guessing if you can prove you're of Native American descent in Washington state, you can pretty much establish a casino wherever you want, except maybe within certain miles of any major city's downtown(?).

Are there any states that do NOT allow even Native American casinos? I'm guessing just the southwest desert states, or maybe Utah or Idaho?

Are there provinces in Canada that allow reservation casinos? I'm guessing British Columbia doesn't, as I was talking with a guy there (on my very first Vancouver visit) who liked coming down to Washington state to gamble... and i doubt the casinos here are THAT much to shout about.

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Right, they're TRYING to get that casino there. I think that will be the first one not on a waterway. They're trying to change the laws that, I'm guessing, prohibit gambling on Illinois LAND. I mean, there has to be a reason why all the casinos are on riverboats. (which don't even move, btw)

DB, there's Native American casinos in Arizona.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

There's one in Wisconsin called Ho-Chunk

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 21:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw an ad on tv about some proposition or another that said that Indian gaming is extremely regulated.

― Leee (Leee), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 23:10 (twenty-one years ago)

we got hella casinos in Arizona, dunno abt the other states.

― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 23:18 (twenty-one years ago)

"there is money to be made because suckers will go to Indian casinos, not realizing that since they are not state-regulated, they don't have to guarantee a certain percentage return to the casino-goer."

What do you mean? are the odds different? do they use different cards? are the games played differently? There are a ton of indian casinos in san diego, and as far as I can tell, it's pretty much the same as going to las vegas, for example (well, except for the fact that only card games and slot machines are legal)

― scott, Wednesday, 3 September 2003 00:23 (twenty-one years ago)

this answers a lot of questions about gambling, where it's legal, its history, etc., btw

― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 00:29 (twenty-one years ago)

FWIW, I don't think this is correct. Indian casinos are regulated to some extent, if for no other reason than to keep them from completely screwing people (and getting sued).

But the main one here would be slot machines. In, say, Harrah's, legally they must pay off a certain percentage per slot machine. It's in the mid-90s.

For table games, I assume the regulation amounts to "don't cheat" - make sure roulette wheels are legit, dice aren't fixed, cards aren't marked (though a casino can still deal blackjack with as many decks as it wishes, to cut down on counting).

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 01:11 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah I meant slots. Should've been more specific.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 3 September 2003 01:15 (twenty-one years ago)

didn't know about the minimum slot payout regulation. I stand corrected. And enlightened.

side note: native american casinos (at least, in san diego county) technically aren't allowed to have roulette and craps, only card games and slots. To get around that, they have card versions of the games, where a machine spits out random cards instead of someone rolling dice or spinning the roulette wheel. I don't know how cool that is though.

― scott, Wednesday, 3 September 2003 01:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I'm the only person over the age of 25 who has never been to a casino or a strip club. Not interested in either of them, I guess.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 01:55 (twenty-one years ago)

No, same here, oops, and I lived in New Orleans (within walking distance of a casino for several years). With the strip clubs, I think it's mostly that I'm squicky about the sorts of customers I imagine I'd see there; I've got nothing against people taking their clothes off. With the casinos ... I don't know. Poker is fun, but I wouldn't go somewhere to play it. Blackjack is fun, but not fun enough to devote much time to it. I did almost go a few times because of the incredibly cheap food and drinks ($11 for eight shots of Sauza tequila!) Just never got around to it.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 03:55 (twenty-one years ago)

You're right to be wary of strip-joint customers. They're everything you expect.

As for casinos, I grew up on stories of when my grandparents lived in Vegas in the mid-60s, and my father dealing blackjack in Tahoe on college breaks. If I didn't enjoy gambling, I'd be kicked out of the family.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 04:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Tep, you are like one-half me (the stripper/casino thing, not liking ceremonies/wanting to have a funeral, ...other things I can't recall) and one-half, um, you.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 04:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Let's NOT get married at a stripper casino with lots of tassels and taffeta, then. Both of our halves would hate that!

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 04:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Stripper casino? That's a select clientele. Only in Vegas!

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 04:14 (twenty-one years ago)

You're only allowed to play the one-armed bandit in the back room.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 04:15 (twenty-one years ago)

But he don't take, he gives.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 04:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Hell, the ONLY time my family ever left California was to go to Vegas, when I was a kid. That was the extent of my "road trips" until college. I've always loved card games, but Vegas bored the shit out of me, before 21, for obvious reasons. I still have a few bitter memories of Vegas whenever I go, but now that I've limited myself to short blasts of Pai Gow Poker (and have come out ahead every time), I'm starting to reappreciate Vegas and Reno very quickly.

I've gambled a little in Lousiana (in Rayne) and at certain casinos in Oregon and Washington before. Lost my money right away.

― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 04:50 (twenty-one years ago)

scratch Oregon, I meant Montana...

― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 04:51 (twenty-one years ago)

eight months pass...

the Hopi are about to vote on gaming

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 15 May 2004 02:55 (twenty-one years ago)

what a great brady bunch episode that would have been, had there been Hopi gambling back when they visited.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Saturday, 15 May 2004 03:04 (twenty-one years ago)

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