Choctaw Casino Bingo in Durant,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

was the first

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

to be constructed, in 1987, and was also the original casino before the construction of new

Choctaw Casino Resort Choctaw Casinos & Resorts is a chain of seven Indian casinos and hotels located in Oklahoma, owned and operated by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The original location in Durant has of gaming floor, over 4,200 slot machines, and 776 hotel roo ...

in 2005. Since the construction of the original casino, it has since then sparked growth for the Choctaw gaming industry. In 1988, the voters of the state of Oklahoma passed a law that allowed 3 different classes of gambling in the state of Oklahoma. Choctaw Casino Bingo was one of the first facilities to take advantage of the new law. Changes in the law led to the introduction of Las Vegas style

slot machine A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...

s and video games as well as table games including

Blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...

and

Poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

. Choctaw Casino Bingo is owned and operated by the

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United S ...

. Profits contribute to many development programs used to benefit local communities and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Tourists

The Choctaw Casino Bingo and the Choctaw Casino Resort form a huge gaming complex that is a popular tourist destination for Durant, the State of Oklahoma, the

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is a conurbated metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas encompassing 11 counties and anchore ...

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

, western

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, and northwestern

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Entertainment

Choctaw Casino Bingo provided on-site entertainment, lodging amenities at the Choctaw Casino Resort Hotel, as well as, the plethora of gaming options within the casino. Gaming opportunities include over 700 gaming machines, live dealer assisted blackjack, and a bingo pavilion large enough to accommodate over 600 bingo patrons.

Closing

Upon the opening of the new Choctaw Casino Resort, the Choctaw Casino Bingo closed in January 2010.

Sources

Gaming Machines in OklahomaNational Indian Gaming Commission
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Casinos in Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Bryan County, Oklahoma Native American casinos Tourist attractions in Bryan County, Oklahoma Native American history of Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-struct-stub