If the results of Amendment 100 in Pope County demonstrate anything, it's that there's no such thing as a sure bet.
The people of Pope County never asked to host a casino, but the advocates for Amendment 100 selected the Russellville area, it seems, as just a geographic exercise -- not close enough to Oklahoma to disturb the entrenched gambling operations there, but more or less midway between the population centers of Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas.
Amendment 100 established four sites for legalized casino gambling. Two of them were at sites where some forms of gambling already existed: Oaklawn horse-racing track in Hot Springs and Southland Greyhound Park in West Memphis. A third was tabbed for Jefferson County, where everything favorable seemed to fall in place quickly.
In Pope County, it's been as though the state authorized an amusement park rather than a casino, one with a roller coaster that's got more twists and turns than the Pig Trail (Arkansas 23, for those who only know Interstate 49 as a way to get to Little Rock).
At first it seemed the Cherokee Nation was destined to build the casino, but opposition and support seemed to run about 50/50 in Pope County. But Gulfside Casino Partnership LLC of Mississippi had made some major financial contributions to getting casinos legalized and, it turned out, convinced two departing political leaders -- the county judge and the mayor of Russellville -- to offer their support for Gulfside to get the one license available for Pope County. That was all before the Arkansas Racing Commission had even started taking applications.
The debate became whether an applicant needed support from the officials actually in office at the time of the application period or if any ol' former officeholder would do. Though the racing commission was given authority to set out the rules, legal slings and arrows went back and forth over those rules and whose proverbial ox was going to be gored.
Fast forward to today, when the Arkansas Supreme Court has invalidated the authority of the former county judge and mayor to provide the crucial backing necessary for a license, leaving it instead in the hands of current officials. The Cherokee Nation Businesses has pledged $38.8 million in economic development funding to Pope County if it gets the license.
It almost sounds settled, but Gulfside recently pledged that the fight isn't over. Meanwhile, some Pope County folks hope to get a measure on the statewide ballot to remove their county from Amendment 100.
So the wheel is still spinning and you can still place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. Round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows!
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What’s the point?
Uncertainty remains the name of the game when it comes to Pope County’s possible casino.