HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – On Thursday, the Hard Rock casino in Hollywood will be kicking off what is known as Class III Gaming.
Craps, roulette and sports betting are coming to Seminole casinos in Florida.
“They want to come to see the guitar, now they’re going to come for more gambling,” said Hard Rock Hollywood President Bo Guidry.
Guidry showed Local 10 News’ Ian Margol some of the new set ups and talked about how excited they are to bring in these new ways to win.
“Now we’re adding three big games, specifically adding roulette which is an international game and we’re hopeful all around the world people are going to come,” said Guidry.
Craps and roulette are considered Class III games, which the Seminole Tribe was given permission to launch in a state compact signed in 2021.
The deal included a promise of billions of dollars for the state and exclusive rights to online sports betting for the tribe. That led to their Hard Rock Bets app, which is up and running for all Floridians, at least, for now.
Attorney Daniel Wallach, an expert on the legalities of mobile gaming, explained that there are several lawsuits currently going through the court systems to try and stop the tribe from running online gaming.
“While the Seminole Tribe certainly has the right at this moment to operate online sports betting that right is not in perpetuity,” Wallach said.
Wallach says he expects the case to fail in the state court but thinks opponents have a legitimate shot with the Supreme Court, where they are challenging the legality of the tribe running online gaming at all.
“All of those bets are being initiated by patrons who are physically outside of Indian lands and the federal law known as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act which governs compacts only provides for gaming on Indian lands and nowhere else,” said Wallach.