The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe says it is on track to win federal approval for a reservation in Southeastern Massachusetts on which to build the New England state’s first casino. However, the tribe’s plans will first have to square up to the financial and political realities of the cash-strapped state.

Latest results have shown that tribal casinos have made significant gains and continue to dominate the Oklahoma gaming market. On the other hand the state lottery which has statutory profit restrictions is facing declining revenues amid increased competition.

While discussions on the federal internet gambling proposals are under way, several states are also currently looking to legalize internet gambling at a state level. In the meantime, a six month delay in the implementation of the UIGEA regulations has been announced by the US Treasury.

After years of consistent growth, Washington's gaming market showed signs of susceptibility to the recession's grip, although the state's tribal gaming sector generated modest gains. Meanwhile, Washington's prohibitive internet gambling law is set to be tested by the state's Supreme Court later this year.

A “fix” to a 2009 US Supreme Court ruling limiting the US Department of Interior’s ability to place land in trust for American Indian tribes was adopted Thursday by a US House subcommittee and included in an appropriations bill.

A powerful Indian gaming lobby group is ramping up efforts to buffer tribal casinos from a controversial new federal proposal that would make it easier for employees to form unions.

As California's budget crisis drags on, the need for additional revenues continues to fuel debate over the merits of an intra-state online poker network. Meanwhile, a recent federal Court of Appeals ruling could impact revenue sharing agreements between California tribes and the state.

Despite the growing number of concerns tribal gaming operators wish to see addressed, experts warn that next year’s election is unlikely to lead to a substantive shift in Federal policy on Indian affairs and that the experiences of Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani in New York could mean both leading candidates would adopt a hostile attitude to off-reservation tribal casinos if elected.

On the heels of state intervention to revive the New York Racing Association, the pressure to roll video lottery machines into the Aqueduct racetrack track has escalated. Meanwhile, the expansion of the Seneca's Buffalo casino points to potential growth in New York's tribal gaming market, and the state lottery continues to pursue innovative measures which stretch beyond traditional sales channels.

A recent landmark appeal court ruling in California which found that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had strong-armed tribes over revenue sharing agreements is unlikely to be enough to reverse a growing tide of anti-sovereignty sentiment.