Arbitration may not solve tribes’ poker dispute with state

Monday, Nov. 17, 1997 | 7:21 a.m.

Last Friday, the Gila River Indian Community agreed to arbitration on the poker issue so it could open its new $30 million Wild Horse Pass casino, which includes 50 poker tables. State regulators had threatened to block the casino's opening because of their view that poker is illegal.

The Gila River tribe will be allowed to keep its poker tables until an arbitrator decides the question, which could take months because the final details of the process have not been hammered out.

But the decision in Gila River's case will not apply to the other 12 Arizona tribes which offer poker in their casinos, said Francie Noyes, spokeswoman for Gov. Jane Hull.

"It really does not extend to the other tribes, but obviously if there's some decision on the ... status of poker it's a step toward resolving the issue," Noyes said Monday. "Because the other tribes are not involved in this arbitration, we have to be careful."

Gila River tribal Gov. Mary Thomas said in a statement Friday that she wanted to have other tribes involved in the arbitration. Thomas was attending a National Congress of American Indians meeting in New Mexico Monday and could not be reached for comment.

Arizona Gaming Department Director Gary Husk set off the dispute this summer, when he told the state's Indian casinos to stop offering poker. Husk cited an opinion from state Attorney General Grant Woods saying that poker is illegal in Arizona, although Woods later said his opinion was not a direct comment on tribal casinos.

Tribal officials say the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act allows them to offer poker without state approval. Some Arizona tribal casinos have offered poker since 1992.

"It's very hard to make a snap decision when you have a reality that allowed tribes to do this for five years," Noyes said. "Everyone assumed it was legal, so it's awfully hard to come back later and say, "Oops, what do we do now?"'

Tribal representatives said Monday there have been no formal talks to resolve the poker issue statewide.

"Currently we're not negotiating on this issue," said John O'Neill, manager of the Yavapai-Apache Tribe's Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde. "On the arbitration, we'll see what the outcome is ... we feel very strongly this is allowed under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act."