Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Could Soon Have Poker

Thursday April 7,2016 :  POKERTRIBE.COM COULD SOON BE A REALITY (Update)
 
Federal judge asks Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma and disputes arbitrator to draft an order for his consideration.
 
The Iowa tribe of Oklahoma's long fight to be allowed to operate an international online poker site from its tribal territory appears to be reaching a successful conclusion.
 
The Journal Record reports that the tribe and arbitrator Charles Chapel met with federal Judge David Russell this week for another discussion on the proposed PokerTribe.com venture, and that the judge asked the parties to draft an order before April 15 for him to consider.
 
Our readers may recall that the tribe initially ran into objections from the state of Oklahoma that the venture was outside the scope of its gaming compact with the tribe. That prompted the tribe to launch litigation, which in turn resulted in the state seeking an arbitration process.
 
A retired judge was appointed arbitrator, and ruled in favour of the tribe, provided PokerTribe was operated from tribal lands. In his finding, the arbitrator wrote:
 
“The use of the Internet is merely using technology to play covered games as a way to increase tribal revenues. It does not extend or restrict the scope of the games and does not amend the compact in any way. The compact and all its terms shall remain in force.”
 
He further ruled that internet gambling takes place where the servers controlling the games are located.
 
The tribe then applied for a summary court judgement allowing it to move forward, and earlier this year the state intimated that it would not contest a court decision based on the arbitrator’s findings.
 
The draft order is not necessarily the end of the matter, however – legal observers have pointed out that Judge Russell has the option to amend the draft, order it into the court record as is, or further delay a decision pending additional information if required.