Just north of the Red River, American Indian casinos are doubling down on Texas gamblers.
With a change in Oklahoma law last year, Indian casinos are in the midst of a building boom as they start to offer blackjack, poker and Vegas-style slot machines.
The only things missing are the craps and roulette tables long associated with Las Vegas gaming palaces. And alcohol still isn't served in most Oklahoma casinos.
Just north of Denison, Texas, the Choctaw Casino is dwarfed by one being built down the road. A new coliseum that recently hosted a Reba McEntire concert is between the two buildings, and a new wing is being added to the tribe's motel.
The Choctaw Casino and the massive WinStar Casino, run by the Chickasaw Nation just north of Gainesville, Texas, are attempting to lure a new wave of Texas gamblers northward.
And with the passage of the new gaming laws, Oklahoma is getting its first chance to sample some of the winnings. The Oklahoma treasurer's office estimates that the state will raise $71 million annually once the new games are up and running at all of the tribal casinos.
Nationally, Indian gaming revenue exceeded $16.7 billion at 330 casinos in 2003, up from $9.8 billion at 310 casinos in 1999, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission.
The opening of WinStar has already changed the dynamics for Texas gamblers, luring many away from Shreveport-Bossier City, La., and upping the pressure on Texas lawmakers who resisted gambling initiatives in the recently completed legislative session.
"You've cut the distances in half for Dallas-Fort Worth gamblers with these Oklahoma Indian casinos," said Bill Thompson, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas who studies the gaming industry.
"I think you'll probably see the vote for gambling in Texas in five years if Oklahoma keeps expanding its operations," Thompson said.
"Oklahoma is a factor, with their more aggressive development of those properties. I don't know what we can do," said Wade Duty, executive director of the Louisiana Casino Association, which represents 10 of the 15 riverboat casinos in Louisiana.
When WinStar opened in fall 2003, the Shreveport-Bossier City casinos saw a 13 percent drop in business. Those figures rebounded, Duty said, but revenue has remained flat the last two years.
"We're getting squeezed by Mississippi on one side, which has far more favorable compacts with the state," Duty said, "and, on the other side, we've got WinStar and these other Oklahoma tribal casinos that are growing like crazy."
All 24 Oklahoma tribes that offer gaming have negotiated compacts with the state since the law passed in November.
Oklahoma has collected nearly $1.5 million since January even as many tribes are still adding the new games.
The state collected $273,000 for card games from the Chickasaw casino in March and April and $80,000 from the Choctaw operation between January and April.
But financial reports on the Chickasaw tribe's Web site show its net assets have more than doubled since WinStar opened - from $138 million in August 2003 to $315 million in April 2005.
In Texas, only the Kickapoo tribe's Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass is allowed to offer gambling.
Texas' other two tribes - the Tiguas in El Paso and the Alabama-Coushatta near Livingston - aren't allowed to offer gaming under state law. Legislation failed this spring that would have opened the door to more gambling in Texas by allowing video slots at Texas racetracks and the two reservations.
But Thompson, the UNLV professor who testified on behalf of the Alabama-Coushatta during its legal battles over offering gambling, said Texas is following a familiar pattern.
"Efforts to open up states to casinos usually don't work the first time out," Thompson said. "It's the second or third try that it usually works.
"Right now, you see a lot more advertisements in your area with the WinStar Casinos that haven't been there before. When people see that stuff, they respond. Some people who might have opposed it go out and try it and suddenly they're favor of bringing it in to their own state."