As many states still struggle with the idea of regulating online gaming and/or poker within their borders, an Oklahoma Indian tribe could be moving forward with plans to open up the first international online poker room within the borders of the United States.
The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma has received final clearance from the federal government to launch an online poker site that, in essence, will be able to step into the market that is currently being worked by such sites as PokerStars, 888 Poker and partypoker on an international basis. The U. S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma’s Judge David L. Russell stated during hearings that there were “no genuine issues of material fact that preclude summary judgment in the tribe’s favor.” The Iowa Tribe, a small band that consists of only about 800 members, is headquartered in Perkins, OK, and their tribal jurisdiction extends across Lincoln, Logan, Oklahoma and Payne Counties inside the state.
The journey to reach this point has been an arduous one for the Iowa Tribe. In September 2015, the tribe announced that they were going to move forward with opening an online poker site per their agreement with the state of Oklahoma and the state’s Gaming Compliance Unit, which oversees all gaming within the state. The GCU believed that the Iowa Tribe’s move into online gaming violated the state’s gaming laws and objected on those grounds, forcing an arbiter to take a look at the case.
That arbiter, Charles Chapel, rendered his decision in December that “usage of the Internet is merely using technology to play covered games as a way to increase tribal revenues. It does not extend or restrict the scope of the games and does not amend the compact in any way.” In essence, Chapel stated that the Iowa Tribe’s online poker room was a simple extension of their operations and not a “new game” that needed new regulation. Surprisingly, the state accepted the arbiter’ ruling and, perhaps even more surprising, the federal government signed off on the deal also.
Now the Iowa Tribe is free to work their deal with Universal Entertainment Group, who has been down this road before with tribes inside Oklahoma trying to start online gaming ventures. In December 2015, NewsOK.com’s Brianna Bailey stated that Universal Entertainment Group had been involved in online gaming in the Sooner State since 2014, when they worked with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in a site called PokerTribes.com (the new site with the Iowa Tribe with be called PokerTribe.com – note the dropping of the “s” from the website). After putting upwards of $10 million into the efforts, those two tribes backed out of the deal with Universal and the company has been searching for a new dance partner since.
Why is this important for Universal and the Iowa Tribe? Simply put, the financials. Bailey says that Universal estimates that a fully matured international online poker operation from the tribal lands could generate as much as $132 million in revenues by 2018. Add in the potential for teaming with other tribes in the state of Oklahoma – something that Iowa tribal chairman Bobby Walkup isn’t against, according to Bailey – and the potential exists for even more revenues for the operation.
With all the legal actions out of the way, the only question now is when the Iowa Tribe and Universal will get down to action. If all goes as planned, PokerTribe.com will be open sometime before the end of 2016 and it will be a full service online casino, not just an online poker operation. Then will come the question of whether the international community – and just how many U. S. players – will or can come calling on the site as to how successful it will be.