The Seneca Gaming Corp.’s profits took a hit during the company’s most recent fiscal year. In an annual report filed Monday with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, the corporation announced a decline in net income of more than USD 16 million for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The report showed net income dropping to USD 102.6 million from USD 119.2 million a year ago. During the first two months of the company’s 2009 fiscal year, the Corporation said it experienced a “4.7 percent decrease in slot handle…

Tallahassee – Florida’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit is forcing Republican legislative leaders to reconsider their opposition to a deal that Gov. Charlie Crist struck last year to expand tribal gambling. Officials for the Seminole Tribe of Florida have met over the past several weeks with new House Speaker Ray Sansom, R-Destin, and other legislators to kick-start talks on a compact that gave the tribe the right to install Las Vegas-style slots and blackjack tables at its seven casinos in the state.

Gallup, New Mexico – Eldon Etsitty deals blackjack hands to a half-dozen players, then corrects one trying to double down improperly. „It’s my table,“ he says in answer to a questioning look. Cards flash. Chips clatter. Etsitty turns up a winning card for himself, and the players groan. „They’re feelin‘ it,“ he says, laughing. „Oh, they’re feelin‘ it.“ The players laugh, too, because this is only a mock game created for casino trainees.

The Morongo Resort Casino & Spa has laid off 95 people, making it the latest Indian casino in the region to scale back in the face of the growing economic downturn, the tribe announced Tuesday. All of the employees are dealers or table-game operators and represent 5 percent of the casino’s work force. The casino, which sits along Interstate 10 near Cabazon, closed 28 table games months ago.

An official of the Bureau of Indian Affairs who visited a quarterly meeting of the San Pasqual tribe in San Diego County to heal a rift on the tribal council was told last week that no rift exists. James Fletcher, who several weeks ago sent a letter to the tribe saying that he felt the tribal government was non-functional, and that a non-functioning government couldn’t operate a casino, was told by some members of the tribe at the meeting…

Boston (Reuters) – Foxwoods Resort Casino, North America’s biggest casino, announced plans on Tuesday to lay off 700 workers or about 6 percent of its work force, citing a drop in gambling and the weakening U.S. economy. The 340,000-square foot casino in Connecticut, owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Indian tribe, is the biggest player in the thriving Native American gaming industry…

Tallahasse: The Attorney General of Florida wants a federal agency to step in and stop gambling at Seminole Indian casinos, even though the governor signed an agreement with the tribe last year. „The legislation never gave permission for it. That’s the basis upon which the Supreme Court ruled the compact null and void,“ Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said in a phone interview Friday.

People love to play the slots. The gambling machines at American Indian-owned casinos in Snohomish County are among the region’s most popular ways to pass the time. The flashing lights and ringing bells of the machines transport local residents to Las Vegas, and there’s always a chance of winning big. But they’re not really slot machines. The tribes and state gambling supervisors call them „slot-style“ machines.

Kansas’ 12-year-old legal challenge to the 7th Street Casino in Kansas City, Kan., has been dismissed by a federal judge on a technicality – again. This time, however, the case may finally be over, clearing the way for the tribal casino to upgrade its games and possibly expand. “This case is moot,” U.S. District Judge Richard D. Rogers said in a 23-page decision made public Thursday.

The Eastern Shawnee tribe of Oklahoma and the city of Monroe are again discussing a potential deal that might bring a casino to Warren County, the Hamilton Journal-News reported Tuesday. The West Seneca, Okla.-based tribe is now proposing a USD 300 million to USD 350 million casino complex for a 123-acre site in the city and Turtlecreek Township, according to the story.

Seneca President Maurice A. John Sr. has issued a request of the National Indian Gaming Commission chairman, who is examining options pertaining to the Seneca Nation of Indians‘ Buffalo Creek Casino. The national agency recently issued a notice of violation to the Nation’s Gaming Corp., meaning the corporation is not meeting the commission’s requirements to operate its Buffalo casino.

Topeka, Kansas (AP) – A judge was told Aug. 29 that blocking Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. from going forward with plans to build and manage a state-owned casino in Sumner County could doom the project. But lawyers for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation argued that Harrah’s involvement in the south-central Kansas project would violate a noncompete agreement the company signed with the tribe in January.