The Hard Rock and other Oklahoma casinos already offered a version of craps and roulette that used gaming cards instead of actual balls and dice. In some cases, the games included video images of dice and roulette wheels, but they were merely for looks and didn’t affect the outcome of the game.

The new games will have the same odds and payouts as the old game-card versions, just using actual dice and roulette wheels to determine the winners, officials said. The Hard Rock has gone from one craps table to three and from two roulette tables to four while training 50 dealers to run the games, a sign of how popular the casino expects the ball and dice tables to be.

“People are more familiar with them” than the game-card versions, Ward said. “And I think there’s a lot of excitement about it.”

Cherokee officials declined to estimate how much revenue the tribe expects to gain, but Hoskin said the money will benefit the tribe and the state.

“There’s obviously a lot of need for the money,” he said. “For the Cherokee Nation, it will go toward housing, education, health care and other needs that our people have.”

Michael Overall 918-581-8383 michael.overall@tulsaworld.com Twitter: @MichaelOverall2

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