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

And if the continuing state doesn’t respond 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 attain a new contract with the tribe over their exclusive rights 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 in the 20-year-compact decided to between Florida and the tribe in 2010.

But while the name for the procedure may sound innocuous enough, the reality is that this dispute is over major issues and a lot of cash on both sides.

Compact Included rights that are exclusive Banked Card Games

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

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

The payments to the continuing state are slated to end if anyone else is allowed to offer the games, which led both sides to seek an extension of the contract.

However the state legislature didn’t 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 failed to achieve an accord himself last year.

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

Moreover, they state, they will be under no obligation to carry on making payments to the state due to exactly what they believe are violations of this exclusivity agreement.

Electronic Games, Player-Backed Offerings at Issue

At problem are two types of games that are offered at some parimutuel facilities through the state. The Seminole Tribe believes that both of these games go against the spirit 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 run the same as their table game variations, but utilize random number generators and are thus categorized as slot machines.

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

The tribe says why these games are sufficient to split the exclusivity contract in the compact.

‘ While the tribe could have exercised its directly to [stop its repayments to the state] immediately, it has to date elected to continue making its payments to your state and, as a gesture of good faith, intends to continue making its payments to the state pending the resolution of this dispute,’ Billie published.

While the tribe method well mean to go through making use of their threats if an agreement cannot be reached, some think that the move is really meant to force the local government to get more serious about negotiating a deal.

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