Slot Machines Pay for Education

Class III slot machines are the Las Vegas kind of slot machines, where you play against the casino and you can win millions of dollars. Many states will not allow Class III slot machines, but they will allow Class II machines which are basically bingo machines where players can play against each other, and they don’t win as much money.

At the Cherokee Casino and Resort in Catoosa, Oklahoma, they allow Class III slot machines, and people are pretty happy about it. It seems that a portion of the money that is coming from those machines is helping to fund education in the state, and that is a good thing no matter how you look at it.

The tribes with gaming compacts with the state are adding the Class III slot machines to their existing Class II slot machines, and bringing in even more money than they were before. There are roughly 33,000 slot machines in the state of Oklahoma, and estimates have 16,000 of them as Class III slot machines.

Derek Campbell, Head of Gaming Compliance for the Office of State Finance, said that the Class III slot machines now fall under the authority of the gaming compact that was signed with the state. He said that many of the tribes are putting the Class III in with the Class II slot machines, and they are ok with that. Campbell says that the more revenue that those slot machines bring in, the more revenue for the state’s schools.



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