JACKSON, Miss. — Three casinos run by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians will offer sports betting, but tribal leaders haven’t said when it will start.
Betting will be available on collegiate and professional sports, including horse racing, Tribal Chief Phyllis J. Anderson said in a news release this week.
The tribe has two casinos, the Silver Star and the Golden Moon, outside the east central Mississippi city of Philadelphia. Its third casino, Bok Homa, is in south Mississippi’s Jones County.
The tribal casinos are not regulated by the state.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission has proposed rules for sports betting in the 28 state-licensed casinos along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast. The commission could adopt those rules June 21, and the state-licensed casinos could start taking bets by late July.
Unlike in some other states, Mississippi’s betting would be confined to casinos, although the rules say bets could be made on mobile devices inside a casino.
The proposed rules say state-licensed casinos would pay state and local taxes worth 12 percent of the wagers minus the payouts. They don’t include an integrity fee that some sports leagues have proposed casinos pay to help cover the costs of policing betting.
Mississippi-licensed casinos could take bets on any pro, college or Olympic sport, or any other proposition approved by regulators except political elections, but the commission will be able to veto types of wagers “contrary to the public policies of the state.”
Casinos couldn’t take bets from coaches or participants, must report suspicious bets over $5,000, and can’t offer special bets or special odds to a single patron. Sports books are supposed to get detailed information on anyone betting or winning more than $10,000. Sports books aren’t banned from taking bets placed on behalf of others.
