Arkansas Gambling

The Arkansas Racing Commission on Thursday (June 18) awarded a coveted license to Mississippi-based Gulfside Casino Partnership for a $254 million casino resort in Pope County, but expect more litigation to be filed before anyone rolls the dice on a groundbreaking.

Earlier this year, the commission had narrowed its choices to a casino operated by Gulfside and another proposal led by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

A Pulaski County judge has ruled that Gulfside Casino is a qualified applicant and its application with the state Racing Commission must be considered. Circuit Judge Tim Fox said the state’s decision to bar Gulfside’s application because the signatures of local elected officials did not include current officeholders was incorrect.

The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery is taking steps to address gambling addiction. March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month.

Lottery Director Bishop Woosley said problem gambling behavior includes anything that harms the participant’s personal or professional life.

He says the lottery works to ensure their contests don’t mislead consumers. 

Greyhound racing is on the decline nationwide and Southland Casino Racing is reacting to the trend. The West Memphis attraction, which has offered live greyhound races for 63 years, will phase out its greyhound racing operations by the end of 2022.

During the next three years, Southland will work with the Arkansas Greyhound Kennel Association to end its program, the company announced Thursday. The agreement had been contingent on approval from the Arkansas Racing Commission, which came Thursday.

After five days of teaser ads, Cherokee Nation Businesses and Legends unveiled their plans for a proposed resort and casino in Pope County. The $225 million Legends Resort & Casino Arkansas will bring “world-class entertainment to the region,” the groups said on Monday.

Some of the proposed amenities include:

Sports wagering has begun in Arkansas with the first bets being placed at a Hot Springs casino.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyt said in a statement that Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort began offering sports wagering Monday morning and will allow gamblers to bet on games ranging from professional football and college basketball to cricket and rugby.

Hoyt says bets can be placed with tellers seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. or at kiosks at the casino.

Los Angeles-based specialty construction giant Tutor Perini Corp. announced last week that one of its subsidiary companies, Gulfport Miss.-based Roy Anderson Corp. (RAC), has been awarded a $200 million contract to build Delaware North’s new Southland Gaming Casino and Hotel Project in West Memphis.

A greyhound track in east Arkansas is spending $250 million to build a new casino complex and high-rise hotel.

Delaware North, the parent company of Southland Gaming and Racing in West Memphis, said Thursday it plans to begin construction this summer on its new 113,000 square-foot casino complex and 20-story hotel tower. The expansion is expected to add as many as 60 live table games and expand its gambling machines from 2,000 to 2,400.

If the casino ballot initiative passes in Arkansas on Tuesday, Delaware North, the parent company of Southland Gaming and Racing, will attempt to build a hotel and convention center in West Memphis, Delaware North Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs Jack McNeill told Talk Business & Politics. It would cost at least $200 million to build and would likely be located on the Southland property, he said.

A proposal to legalize casinos in Arkansas has been approved for the November ballot.

Secretary of State Mark Martin's office on Wednesday said supporters of the proposed constitutional amendment submitted more than the nearly 85,000 signatures from registered voters required to put the proposal on the ballot. Martin's office said it had determined 99,988 valid signatures were submitted.

Arkansas's highest court has rejected an effort to force the state's attorney general to approve the wording of a ballot measure that would legalize casinos in four counties.

The state Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition by Driving Arkansas Forward, the group trying to put the casinos legalization measure on the ballot in November.

A group seeking a public vote on expanded gambling in Arkansas is asking the state Supreme Court to force Attorney General Leslie Rutledge to approve and certify the ballot title.

The group Driving Arkansas Forward filed a petition Tuesday with the state's high court.

Driving Arkansas Forward is trying to put a proposal on the November ballot to legalize casinos in Jefferson and Pope counties, as well as at the Oaklawn horse track in Hot Springs and at the Southland greyhound track in West Memphis.

A proposal to legalize casinos in Arkansas has been revised to allow expanded gambling at a greyhound track and horse track that already offer video poker and other electronic games.

Driving Arkansas Forward submitted its proposed constitutional amendment to the state attorney general's office, which had rejected an earlier version of the proposal. The AG must certify the measure's wording before the group can begin gathering signatures to try and place it on the November ballot.