It will keep the money here in Oklahoma that could be going elsewhere if we don't do that, DuVall said.

But critics say the question will fling open the doors to all types of casino gambling in Oklahoma without providing true regulation and with serious social and financial consequences for all levels of government.

This is not an opportunity to share in revenue and have regulation finally. It takes away the only definitive regulation that's out there and that's from the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Commission, said Rep. Forrest Claunch, R-Midwest City and spokesman for Oklahomans for Good Government. They wind up powerless because we say it's OK for the tribes to do these things and then through the compact we empower the tribes to be their own enforcement agency.

He said the state is allowed only to review the actions and reports of tribal governments with no enforcement power if problems are discovered.

Under the proposal, tribes that compact with the state would be allowed to provide electronic bonanza-style gambling, electronic instant bingo and electronic amusement games.

Officials have indicated those categories are broad enough to include activities such as video poker or blackjack, and perhaps video slot machines.

Tribal casinos would also be allowed exclusive rights to offer nonhouse-banked card games on-site.

Three racetracks would also be allowed to provide electronic gambling machines on-site. Racetracks in the state have been on the brink of bankruptcy for several years and supporters say casino gambling is the only thing that will draw crowds back to the tracks and make them profitable again.

Several thousand individuals are active in horse racing in Oklahoma.

In return for authorizing those forms of gambling through official compacts with tribal nations, the state would receive 4 percent of adjusted gross revenue on the first $10 million generated at a tribal casino and then receive up to 6 percent of revenue above $20 million. In addition, the state would receive 10 percent of the net win of the common pool for nonhouse-banked card games at tribal casinos.

On the other hand, racetracks would pay 10 percent of adjusted gross revenue to the state on the first $30 million generated at each track, with the state's share rising incrementally to 25 percent of adjusted gross revenue for amounts in excess of $70 million.

Under the proposal, the three racetracks would be allowed to provide up to 1,250 terminals on-site within five years while there would be no limit on the number of terminals allowed at tribal casinos.

However, since some officials have publicly estimated as many as 40,000 terminals will be available in Oklahoma following passage of the proposed gaming compacts, racetracks may provide just 3.1 percent of available terminals in the state, yet provide 18.5 percent of all state casino revenue, according to projections.

The Office of State Finance has estimated casino gambling will generate $71.8 million in annual state revenue, with $13.3 million coming from racetrack gaming and $58.5 million generated at tribal casinos.

Gaming at racetracks would also be limited to a maximum 18 hours in a day and 106 hours per week, although casino gambling would be allowed even on days when no horse racing occurs.

The proposed tribal compacts would be locked in for 15 years. Each compacting tribe will be required to pay an annual oversight fee of $50,000 in the first year and $35,000 in each year thereafter.

The compacts would also be automatically repealed if the courts should rule that specific games covered by the compacts are Class II games (which cannot be subject to compacting in Oklahoma under federal law).

Currently, there are 27 tribes in Oklahoma with casino operations.

An issue brief produced by the Community Action Project, a Tulsa- based anti-poverty group, notes that the revenue projections of the Office of State Finance appear to indicate a dramatic surge in casino gambling will occur in Oklahoma if the new compacts are approved.

These revenue projections assume total adjusted gross revenue of $93 million from the racetracks and $1.2 billion from tribal games, CAP's issue brief states. While precise state-level figures of current gaming revenues are not available, existing data suggests gambling in Oklahoma would have to grow considerably to meet these revenue projections. The Analysis Group, an economic consulting company, has estimated income from Oklahoma tribal casinos at $466 million in 2003, a figure that represented a 32 percent increase from 2002.

If the Analysis Group estimates for 2003 and the Office of State Finance estimates are both correct, Oklahoma may have to experience an increase in gambling of more than 350 percent to meet revenue projections.

And the increase necessary to generate the revenue projected by supporters of the compacts may actually be even greater. The CAP brief also notes that some portion of existing revenue from Oklahoma gaming is generated by machines that are not subject to revenue- sharing under the compact.

A significant share of the projected increase in gambling would likely be conducted by Oklahomans, based on past research, although out-of-state customers represent a major share of customers at facilities located near the state line.

Claunch believes the increased gambling required to meet official projections will be astronomical.

It's well over $1 billion in new losses on top of what's already being lost (in Oklahoma casinos), he said.

Based on the formulas contained in the proposed compacts, an additional $1.4 billion will have to be played in casinos in Oklahoma to generate $70 million in new state revenue, Claunch said, with most of that gambling coming on top of existing gaming.

Claunch said existing Class II (bingo) games that are not covered in the proposed compacts are expected to remain in use, and predicted legal battles over what machines are covered by the proposed compacts.

Since they will never pay anything to the state on all the existing gambling, what they will do is work to reclassify the ones that are currently the 'grey areas,' the illegal stuff, as Class II, Claunch said. They don't want to pay the state a dime.

Claunch also said it is not clear how much the state will truly be able to collect off gambling in tribal casinos. The proposed compacts call for the state to get 4 percent to 6 percent of adjusted gross revenue, which is described as revenue minus payouts.

However, Claunch said the definition of payout may leave tribal casinos a great deal of wiggle room that would allow them to inflate the payout figure by including employee salaries and other administrative costs.

They don't definitively describe payout as far as I'm concerned, Claunch said. Anything not nailed down is open to interpretation.

He said the proposed compacts essentially allow tribes to self- regulate.

But DuVall said the revenue projects are quite conservative and predicted that machines covered by the compacts will quickly replace all Class II machines in the state, meaning there will not be a dramatic increase in gambling.

The way I understand it, in a relatively short amount of time there will be a changeover in a lot of the gaming machines that the tribes are using rather than a lot more machines being out there, DuVall said.