Alabama-Coushatta reopens East Texas bingo hall

The machines are up and running, with players already arriving to enjoy the newly re-opened Naskila Entertainment bingo hall on the grounds of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe's reservation Tuesday. The official opening of the venue is June 2, but word of mouth had already attracted guests to the soft opening. The bingo hall has been closed for 13 years, and the Attorney General declined to comment on whether he will seek to once again close the establishment. Photo taken Tuesday, May 17, 2016 Kim Brent/The Enterprise less The machines are up and running, with players already arriving to enjoy the newly re-opened Naskila Entertainment bingo hall on the grounds of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe's reservation Tuesday. The official ... more Photo: Kim Brent Photo: Kim Brent Image 1 of / 40 Caption Close Alabama-Coushatta reopens East Texas bingo hall 1 / 40 Back to Gallery

As it continues blocking an El Paso tribe's efforts to gamble on similar grounds, the Texas attorney general's office was silent Tuesday on an East Texas Native American tribe's opening of an electronic bingo hall 90 minutes north of Beaumont.

Alabama-Coushatta's "soft opening" of Naskila Entertainment comes more than 13 years after a bingo hall in the same location was shut down by federal court order.

Awaited since a September announcement, the revival formally shifts attention to state officials who have challenged the tribe's gaming authority and the federal court system that has previously ruled against them.

Alabama-Coushatta cited approval from two federal agencies - the U.S. Department of Interior and National Indian gaming Commission - for opening the facility and the authority to conduct Class II gaming, which includes bingo.

Attorney General Ken Paxton in a December court filing concerning the Tiguas of El Paso argued the federal approval lacked state authority.

Paxton also pushed back on the Tiguas' attempt to include Alabama-Coushatta as a party to the federal lawsuit, the source of an injunction that since 2001 has prevented the El Paso tribe from gambling.

The state argued against the East Texas tribe's inclusion, saying no "third-party tribes" should be added to the suit right now because they, "unlike the Pueblo Defendants here, are not currently violating federal law."

Paxton's office declined to comment Tuesday on the Alabama-Coushatta opening.

"We certainly respect the state's role in this, and that's why they've been informed and are aware of what's going on at the Alabama-Coushatta reservation," said Chuck McDonald, a spokesperson for the Naskila Entertainment center.

Naskila is located on the reservation between Woodville and Livingston on U.S. 190.

Under the gaze of several surveillance cameras, the remodeled mini-casino features 365 electronic bingo machines with names like "American Wildlife," "Kingdom of Sparta" and "Fire Wolf."

A dining area capable of seating nearly 80 and serving up salads, hamburgers and ribs is tucked in one corner. Glass doors lead to machines in the "smoking" area, and higher-stakes machines line a back wall near the VIP area.

The first desk to greet visitors is a desk to sign up for "player's club" cards, which track spending for the purpose of gamblers acquiring bonuses, such as free meals.

Within four hours of its barely publicized opening, officials estimated more than 200 people visited Naskila - some waited in the parking lot for two hours before the doors opened at noon, tribal spokesman Carlos Bullock said.

An official grand opening is scheduled for June 2, one day before several thousand tribal members, family and the general public begin arriving for the tribe's annual pow-wow.

The event is considered a "homecoming" for tribe's 1,200 members, - more than half of whom live outside of the Polk County reservation - but its reach extends beyond Alabama-Coushatta, Bullock said.

The casino will employ 200 and is billed as a way to inject jobs and money into the tribe and surrounding East Texas communities.

"It was a blessing," said 24-year-old Courtney Watson, a lifelong Livingston resident, of her employment that began less than a week ago.

Watson, not a member of the tribe, worked at a Sonic Drive-In before landing a job in Naskila's kitchen. She lauded upgrades to her pay and benefits package and said her supervisors go out of their way to treat everyone fairly and with kindness.

Jobs in Livingston for people without post-secondary education or specialized skills are hard to come by, Watson said.

The electronic bingo machines look, sound and, from the gambler's point of view, play like electronic slot machines that can be found in Louisiana casinos like L'Auberge and the Golden Nugget. Louisiana's casinos host millions of visitors each year from Texas, which bans commercial gambling.

From July 1, 2015 through April, Lake Charles' two largest casinos have counted close to 6 million admissions, according to the Louisiana Gaming Control Bill. Their state tax bill in that time was a combined $102 million.

Annual Louisiana reports show a majority of Lake Charles gamblers come from out-of-state.

EBesson@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/EricBesson_news