As some federal legislators are fighting to get online poker legalized and regulated across the United States, some lawmakers in North Carolina are trying to give gamblers more options in their state. While nothing official was presented in writing, there were some discussions in the legislature during the final week of the legislative session earlier this month to allow all types of casino gambling at the state’s popular casino, Harrah’s Cherokee.
As it stands now, poker players in the southeast have virtually no reasonable options for live poker that don’t include home games or underground clubs. Harrah’s Cherokee is the lone gambling beacon for residents of both North and South Carolina, northern Georgia (including Atlanta), southern Virginia, and eastern Tennessee. For many people in those areas, seeing a commercial for Harrah’s Cherokee is exciting: “Whoa! There’s a casino within driving distance! And it’s a Harrah’s! Time for a poker road trip!”
But as ESPN’s Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend.” You see, Harrah’s Cherokee is a bit of an oddball when it comes to casinos. Every game, even a traditional table game like blackjack, is electronic. There are no real cards dealt anywhere in the casino. There is a poker room, but it is stocked with ten PokerPro fully automated, electronic tables. These are legitimate tables that offer a good game and actually offer several benefits over traditional poker tables, but many players are either not comfortable with the computerized game or simply don’t enjoy the lack of real cards, chips, and a dealer.
The reason for the electronic-only games stems from an agreement between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the state. According to the University of North Carolina Libraries website, the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Gambling Regulatory Act in 1988, which allowed federal-recognized Native American tribes to open casinos on their own tribal land, as long as the games offered were legal in the state. Some Cherokee tribal leaders, including its spiritual leader, Walker Calhoun, were opposed to gambling, but the tribe pressed on, opening a small casino in the early 1990’s which offered only bingo, poker, and pull-tab cash prize machines. The casino was soon forced by the Asheville U.S. Attorney to eliminate all games except bingo, as it was the only game that was legal in North Carolina.
Not satisfied with just being a bingo hall, Cherokee leaders came to an agreement with Governor Jim Hunt. The casino was allowed to offer electronic games that required “skill or dexterity” (yes, slot machines are somehow included) and no jackpot higher than $25,000. True table games were out, as was alcohol (the latter because of tribal laws).
In recent years, electronic blackjack was added as a table game and to make it feel like a more “genuine” experience, there are live “dealers” and chips. The first PokerPro automated poker tables were added in 2009.
Those in favor of expanding the offerings at Harrah’s Cherokee to include live-dealer card games cite job creation as the main reason for doing so. Chris Mackey, a spokeswoman for Governor Beverly Perdue’s office, said, “The expansion that the Cherokee proposed could create hundreds of jobs in western North Carolina.”
The tribe made an effort to expand gambling a few years ago, saying that adding live poker, craps, and blackjack would create 430 jobs, but negotiations with then Governor Mike Easley were halted in 2006.
Not everyone is for this, of course. There is already the expected push back from social conservatives and “family values” organizations who are against any possibly growth of gambling.
Formal discussions may commence when the legislature reconvenes later this month.