Oklahoma Overview
AUG 2006
Oklahoma does have Class II gaming except for the Cherokee Tribe who are building their casinos into Class III establishments.
The State laws have changed so if a Tribe creates a new compact with the State, allows the State to take a cut, and allows the State to have similar machines in their "raceinos" the Tribe can have Class III - location and game details are unknown.
So far they are the only Tribe to do this. Cherokee has 5 locations in NorthEastern Oklahoma. The one closest to Tulsa is in Catoosa, 5 or 10 miles east on I-44. The offer everything from IGT VP to Wheel of Fortune in real live machines. They still have an assortment of Bingo based slot machines but no live bingo anymore. They have a nice hotel and great Golf Course, hence the Cherokee Casino and Resort name.
The State law requires that the Casino cannot make any money from gambling wins on table games. Therefore, the 50 cent ante is what the Tribe makes for dealing the games. The wins the casino make on table games must be distributed back in the form of payouts to winners and the rest must go back to the customer. They do this with a lot of car, chopper, boat, etc.. giveaways.
All games must involve cards. Cherokee Casino has a big poker room with nice promotions. The Osage Million Dollar Elm in North Tulsa does have a version of Craps much like in California, where the roll of the dice determines cards that are chosen to set the point.
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Cherokee Casino
Catoosa OK
MAY 2008
Cherokee Casino is the Best in the Tulsa area. They have a lot of bingo slots but also a full regiment of Class III machines (Native American linked Wheel of Fortune progressives and such).
They have a large poker area, on evenings and weekends they have a card versions of both Roulette and Craps. They have a decent inventory of card games BlackJack, Ultimate Texas Hold"em, Pai Gow Poker, and 3 card poker.
All machines except the Twisters Bartops have .25/.50 JOB at 8/5, Dollar at 8/6. DDB .25/.50 at 9/5, Dollar at 9/6, better than I"ve seen in a long time on the Vegas Strip. Other games are a pretty bad Deuces, White Hot Aces, and a short pay Bonus Poker. They have Double Bonus but I"m not familiar with the pay"s. Twisters Bartops are reduced and with the band at night usually too loud to play there.
There is a cash back in the mail a week after you"ve played 100 points on your card in one visit. $5 per point, points are worth a penny a piece for cash/comps.
The problem with Cherokee and Creek casinos in Tulsa, they started out as bingo halls years ago and only added on to there existing facilities. While they have new sections, the older, sections are pretty worn out and need to be removed.
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Firelake Grand Casino
Shawnee OK
MAY 2008
Firelake Grand Casino, on Interstate-40 near Shawnee , has removed its
progressive video poker machines. No good video poker remains.
JAN 2007
The Potawatomi Tribe casino, Firelake Grand, on I-40 near Shawnee, Oklahoma, is the first Indian casino I have found in this state that has full-pay video poker -- after a fashion. The "Pot of Gold" uprights, scattered all over both floors of the casino, have 8-5 progressives, and many of the jackpots are well above the full-pay level. The machines are a little different. They can be played for anywhere from one to 25 nickels. However, on jacks or better, the jackpot kicks in at 20 nickels, so it is the equivalent of a 20-cent 8-5 progressive.
The buffet is also pretty good, and the sports grill has a great buffalo chili, but I"m wondering if I should be willing to eat there since the Oklahoma Health Department does not inspect the Indian casinos.
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