Confirmation that Governor Ted Strickland has placed the planned rollout of VLT gaming at Ohio racetracks on hold also bodes ill for an upcoming vote on whether to legalise Las Vegas-style casinos in the state, industry experts believe.

As Indian gaming tribes continue to increase their economic and political power in the coming years, they will come to be perceived more as corporations rather than sovereign political entities, but they could encounter labor issues as a result, write leading Indian gaming attorneys Michael Anderson and Lorinda Mall of AndersonTuell.

Despite its small population and its geographical and monetary restrictions on commercial gaming, South Dakota’s commercial casino industry is one of the quickest growing in the United States.

Governor Ted Strickland’s plan to install thousands of video lottery terminals (VLTs) at Ohio racetracks has attracted a pair of lawsuits aimed at blocking the gambling expansion, as well as criticism from a key US senator.

State referenda on Tuesday saw Maryland voters approve the introduction of class III gaming - and 15,000 slot machines - in the cash-strapped state, while measures that would have approved resort casinos in Maine and Ohio were comprehensively rejected.

While the Ohio state lottery remains profitable, a proposal to privatize it has recently been put forward in order to enable more Ohioans to enter higher education. The state’s racing industry, on the other hand, has suffered yet another period of declining revenues.

Voter-backed plans to build four Las Vegas-style casinos in Ohio could stall as observers speculate on the likely political responses from state lawmakers effectively sidelined from the expanded gambling process.

A bill has been filed in the Kentucky House of Representatives to put in place a referendum during the 2008 state election on whether casino games should be introduced at the state’s nine racetracks and at off-track sites.

Spurred by the economic downturn, voters in Ohio have approved the introduction of Las Vegas-style casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.

Two lawsuits filed last week are set to challenge the constitutionality of a Missouri ballot measure that would eliminate the state’s player loss limit rule and cap the number of casinos in the state. The progress of the ballot measure is being closely watched in neighbouring states.