Though it appears nowhere close to actually doing so, a Wisconsin Native American tribe has said that it would like to jump into the online poker business. According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa tribe wants to expand its online businesses into the online gambling sector in order to bring in needed revenue, as it has been struggling financially for several years.
The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians currently operates the Lake of the Torches Resort Casino in northern Wisconsin, not far south of the state’s border with Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. As mentioned, the tribe has been having financial problems; in 2009, it defaulted on a $50 million bond offering that was issued just the previous year. Though the tribe’s casino and related businesses made a profit of almost $12 million on revenues of over $53 million in the 12 months ended October 31, 2009, it was apparently unable to make the required $800,000 monthly payments on the bond (the interest rate was 12 percent).
Also in 2008, the tribe had considered mortgaging parts of its reservation.
Online gambling, including poker, is seen by the tribe as a way to bolster its cash flow. Tom Maulson, the tribe’s president, said that they are ready to go and “could just flip a switch” to start its internet gaming operations. One problem, though, is that unlike New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware, online gambling has not been legalized and regulated in Wisconsin. In fact, even though land-based tribal gaming has been legal throughout the state for quite some time (coincidentally, this writer’s first casino experience was at Ho-Chunk Gaming in Baraboo almost 20 years ago), there has been absolutely no discussion in the state legislature of regulating the online game.
Nevertheless, online gambling is technically still a possibility because it is permissible within the borders of the reservation. Of course, the number of players in a single reservation would be next to nil, so the hope for the Chippewa would be to join forces with other tribes in the Tribal Internet Gaming Alliance to offer combined player pools with other reservations. That brings up another sticking point: there are no tribes that have launched online gaming yet.
The tribe is already familiar with online enterprises, as it got two payday loan businesses up and running online this month with a third to come. Because of the limited populations and often remote locations of reservations, online businesses are attractive to tribes, as they offer the ability to reach many more customers. Payday loan outfits are typically looked upon in a very unfavorable light, as they take advantage of vulnerable, low-income people by extending extremely high interest loans. Taking payday loan businesses online also allows lenders to pick and choose from which states they want to accept customers. The Lac du Flambeau tribe’s payday loan companies do not offer loans in Wisconsin because of the state’s strict regulatory environment.
Lake of the Torches does have an active online casino, but for play money only.