The Seminole Tribe of Florida reached an agreement with the governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, recently to provide gamblers with the game of blackjack at the tribal owned casinos. The Tribe will be paying the state of Florida $6.8 billion over the next twenty years to have the right to offer blackjack at their casinos.

The state will earn at least $150 million a year as well as a share of revenue earned by the games. An agreement was made in 2007 but was rejected by the state Supreme Court. The new agreement will “reap financial benefit to the people of Florida” according to Crist in a press release. He also stated “The revenue sharing between the tribe and the state will enable the state of Florida to invest in the future of Florida’s children.

The new deal must be approved by legislature before it will go into law. Mitchell Cypress of the Tribe commented: “Another important milestone has been reached in the Seminole Tribe’s long effort to establish a compact with the State of Florida. We are hopeful and optimistic that the compact will ultimately become law.”






- 2009-09-07