There could be a new source of entertainment for tourist deep in the heart of Texas in 2016. Plans for a new Casino in Texas have been underway, but a legal challenge from state officials may delay or even derail these plans. On the other side if the Indian tribe Alabama-Coushatta have their way, the Casino will be making it’s Grand Opening early in 2016 on more than ten thousand acres of land on the reservation that is located south of Livingston.
A spokesperson for the tribe stated that “This would be a big shot” as he noted that the tribe has been financially struggling since their first Casino was closed down by the state in the year 2002.
When the previous casino was opened it generated approximately one million dollars a month, when it was closed down it was devastating for the tribe. It made a huge impact on the tribe to lose that amount in revenue as well as all the jobs that were lost.
The Casino was closed in 2002 after the tribe lost the legal fight with state officials who stated that the state’s law trumped over the national Indian Laws and therefore Casino gambling was not allowed in Texas. But now the tribe believes that it has a new authority in order to reopen a casino which features devices that act, sound as well as look like slot machines but in fact are electronic bingo devices.
Just last month the National Indian Gaming Commission as well as the US Department of Interior ruled that this tribe is allowed to operate games on the reservation, the same way as the Tigual Indians have on the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo reservation that is located near El Paso.
This battle is more than a decade old, and this has been the latest development that has pitted National Indian Law against State Laws that have prevented gambling in Texas.
