Arkansas Casino Pushes for Broader Online Gambling Options

The Saracen casino's Carlton Saffa is leading the effort to get Arkansas regulators to include online slots and live-dealer table games among what's legal and regulated in the state. (Image: courtesy of Saracen Casino Resort) 

An Arkansas casino is asking regulators to allow for full online casino gambling in the state, arguing that it will boost revenues and fight against unlicensed operators. 

That argument was made in a March 13 letter sent from Saracen Casino Resort CMO Carlton Saffa to Alex Lieblong, chairman of the Arkansas Racing Commission.

Currently, the three brick-and-mortar casinos in Arkansas are allowed to offer online sports betting. Online poker has also been approved, but is not currently available from any regulated operator in the state.

Casinos Want Fair Fight Against Offshore Sites

Saffa is now asking the Racing Commission to expand the online options to include all casino games, including slots and table games. 

In his letter, Saffa emphasized that these games were already available online throughout the state, but only through offshore, unregulated operators. 

“Amending Rule 5 [to include all casino games] would provide a legitimate alternative to those already imposing their products onto Arkansas consumers, without regard for your standards of operation and without regard to your rules regarding minors placing bets,” Saffa wrote.

In the letter, Saffa estimates that full online gambling would produce $12 million in gaming tax revenue and a total of $20 million in state benefits annually from Saracen alone, even without considering additional revenue from the other two casinos in the state.

South Left Out of Regulated Online Casino Market

Saffa expanded on his arguments Monday in an interview with Gambling.com, saying that cracking down on the unregulated operators isn’t enough.

“Given that we have seen online operators in the fantasy sports space ignore cease and desist demands from the state, merely attempting to police the matter is not a workable solution,” Saffa told Gambling.com. “People in Arkansas are already gambling in online casinos, and those companies are not regulated or taxed by the Arkansas Racing Commission. Those companies are not held to the standards the people of Arkansas set forth for operators.”

Saffa says he would like to address the Racing Commission at its May 6 meeting to discuss his idea. He also noted that full online casino gambling in Arkansas would include live dealer games. 

Currently, only six states offer full online casino gambling, and none of those states are in the South. That means adopting the proposed rules could give Arkansas the first-mover advantage in the region.

Other southern states are also considering gaming expansion this year. On Wednesday, Alabama legislators will meet in a conference committee to discuss a pair of bills that would authorize statewide gambling options, though the two pieces of legislation differ greatly in scope.

Minnesota racetracks have also gone to their state Racing Commission in the hopes of adding historical horse racing as a gaming option. While the Minnesota Racing Commission approved the measure, state legislators saw that as overreach, a controversy that has become part of a larger battle over the future of gaming in the state.