The Seminole Tribe of Florida will still be able to keep its blackjack tables, after a federal court this week upheld a ruling made last month.
In November, a judge ruled that the tribe could continue offering the games despite the state asking for them to be stopped. The Seminoles and the state are currently without a compact after the deal they made in 2010 expired. The federal court found that the tribe could continue with blackjack until 2030 because Florida didn’t honor the terms of the compact by letting commercial gambling facilities circumvent the tribe’s table game exclusivity.
Florida has the third largest tribal gaming market in the country, behind California and Oklahoma. The Sunshine State tribal gaming market is worth roughly $2.4 billion annually.
The tribe paid more than $1.5 billion in revenue sharing to Florida thanks to the 2010 compact.
A new compact that was negotiated last year was rejected by the state legislature. The Associated Press reported that Florida must now decide whether to continue with an appeal or return to the negotiating table with the Seminoles.
Florida’s poker market is unaffected by the case, which centers on house-banked games.
