Officials of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians recently announced sports betting soon will be offered at the tribe’s Mississippi casinos, including Bok Homa Casino in Heidelberg and the Silver Star Hotel and Casino and Golden Moon Hotel and Casino located at the Pearl River Resort in Philadelphia. Wagers will be taken on professional and collegiate sport, said CRDE Board Chairman and Tribal Chief Phyliss J. Anderson.
Sports betting, plus skill-based gaming, fantasy contests and eSports and a new slot product from Nevada all were unanimously approved by the tribal council on May 31.
“The resort is very excited about the opportunity to offer these new products for our guests in a vibrant and advanced gambling environment. These newly approved regulations will allow the resort to remain on the forefront of the gambling market, as well as provide additional revenue streams to the tribe.”
In the 2017 legislative session, state lawmakers passed a measure regulating and taxing fantasy sports, with a provision authorizing sports betting if the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the federal ban, which it did in May. Regulations allowing sports books could be approved this week, meaning the state’s 28 casinos could begin taking bets within 30 days.
House Speaker Pro Tem Greg Snowden said, “The gaming commission can regulate sports betting. I suspect they will initially limit it to casinos. I trust the gaming commission. They have a pretty good record in Mississippi. I think we’re better off being regulated.”
State Rep. Charles Young Jr. added, “People are going to gamble regardless and it needs to be regulated and it needs to be taxed.”
Also in Mississippi, Coast developer James Parrish said his company will ask the gaming commission for first approval to build the first casino in Long Beach. Parrish’s firm owns a 12-acre site on U.S. 90.
According to a legal advertisement, the 40,000 square foot casino would offer 1,200 slot machines and 20 table games, plus 300 hotel rooms and a fine dining restaurant as required by commissioners.
