The Seminole Tribe is ready to play hardball with the state of Florida over the failure of state leaders to negotiate exclusivity for the tribe’s gambling operations.

And if the state doesn’t reply quickly, the Seminoles say they’re willing to play without them.

Seminole Tribal Chairman James Billie sent a letter to mention officials telling them that Florida has 30 days to reach a new contract with the tribe over their exclusive liberties to use banked card games such as blackjack.

The letter had been a very bureaucratically named ‘notice of commencement of compact dispute resolution procedures,’ an apparatus which was included into the 20-year-compact agreed to between Florida and the tribe in 2010.

But while the name associated with procedure may sound innocuous enough, the reality is that this dispute is over major issues and lots of money on both sides.

Compact Included Exclusive Liberties to Banked Card Games

Whenever the compact was first agreed to, it included a five-year guarantee of exclusivity over banked card games.

The exclusivity extended to five of the seven casinos operated by the Seminoles; in exchange, the tribe would pay the state at minimum $1 billion over the five years.

The payments to the state are slated to cease if someone else is allowed to own games, which led both sides to seek an extension of the contract.

However the state legislature did not approve a deal during their session previously this season, and negotiations between Republican leaders and the tribe have not borne fruit after Governor Rick Scott neglected to achieve an accord himself last year.

Based on the letter, the Seminoles think over the exclusivity that they can continue to offer their games even if the state fails to come to an agreement with them.

Moreover, they do say, they could be under no obligation to continue making payments to the state due to just what they believe are violations of this exclusivity agreement.

Electronic Games, Player-Backed Offerings at Issue

At problem are two forms of games which can be found at some parimutuel facilities through the state. The Seminole Tribe believes that both these games not in favor of the nature and the page of their compact.

First, there are electronic variations of roulette and blackjack that have been authorized by gambling regulators and are common at parimutuel locations.

These games operate just like their table game variations, but use number that is random and are thus classified as slots.

There is also a presssing issue with Three Card Poker games being utilized at some racetrack casinos. In these games, a ‘designated player’ backs the game rather compared to the house, but the Seminoles say that in the united states, player-banked card games are considered to be banked games just as much as any casino-backed game.

The tribe says that these games are sufficient to break the exclusivity contract in the compact.

‘ While the tribe may have exercised its straight to [stop its payments to the state] immediately, it has thus far elected to keep making its payments to the state and, as a motion of good faith, promises to carry on making its re payments to your state pending the quality of this dispute,’ Billie published.

While the tribe way well mean to go through using their threats if an agreement cannot be reached, some believe the move is really meant to force the continuing state government to get more seriously interested in negotiating a deal.

‘From a strategy that is legal, it’s a good strategy,’ stated Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton), who helped focus on the compact. ‘I disagree with the arguments that they are making, but it at least gives them a methodology that is procedural negotiate with the state.’