Online Casinos
Native American Online Casinos
By Gambling Online Magazine
Feb 27, 2001, 18:23

The File Hills Indians in Southern Saskatchewan may be the next jurisdiction to offer online casino licenses for cyber-operators.  The Indian Nation is confident that under its rights as a sovereign nation it can legally offer online casino operators a gaming license despite the Canadian government's warnings that it may be illegal.  James Jestrab, General Manager of File Hills Telecom and Internet Inc. explains.

"We have hired international, provincial and federal lawyers to review the bylaws as well as all the documentation that's necessary to provide these services", he said.  "I imagine the province would not be 100 percent pleased, nor the federal government.  But treaty rights are protected under treaties with the Crown of England."

Nonetheless, opening new Native American online casinos was halted by the Canadian provincial government in June, 2000.  They told the native casino's operator, the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority, they needed time to work through the complexities of Internet gambling.

But with profits in their eyes, the File Hills Indians plan to go ahead despite the Canadian government's request.  According to Jestrab, "You can apply to the country of Austraila and for around US $150,000, they will issue you an international gaming license in order to "game" on the internet, that's the same type of thing that the File Hills bands would do as well.  We would be like Austraila, a sovereign nation."

If the File Hills Indians are successful at operating an online casino in protest of the Canadian government, other Native American Nations may take similar action.  If US Native Amerian tribal lands also get involved in online gaming licensing then we may see a flood of offshore casinos moving on shore in order to take advantage of fast and inexpensive internet connectvity.

Foxwoods Resorts, the world's largest land-based casino, could take advantage of this situation and become the world's largest online casino if they follow the lead of the File Hills Indians.  Located near Hartford, Connecticut, Foxwoods has both superior technological infrastructure and telecommunications compared to many of the Caribbean islands that currently license online gaming.  Connecticut is also less susceptible to power outages than the Caribbean islands located in the "Hurricane Belt".

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