In addition, Morgan works as director of gaming for the Chickasaw Nation, which operates 22 of Oklahoma’s 134 casinos and reported $1.4 billion in gaming revenue for 2017. Together, the two organizations lead Tribal Voices, a responsible gaming advocacy group that promotes a Smart Play OK campaign for responsible gambling. The board of Harwell’s nonprofit includes a central voice in tribal gaming: Matthew Morgan, chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association. “There are about five large tribes that contribute to us financially.” “Tribes definitely participate,” Harwell said. He said some tribes also fund their own programs and health centers that address behavioral health issue, such as problem gambling. Harwell said tribal donations account for more than half his budget. “It has fueled so much of what we’ve been able to do.” “(Gaming is) the cornerstone of our business portfolio, which means that it’s the cornerstone of our economic independence,” said Cherokee Nation Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.

What no one disputes is that gaming revenue helps fund tribal programs for education, infrastructure, health care and more. The compact defining the state-tribal agreement is the subject of an ongoing and tense political fight. In Oklahoma, tribal nations have exclusive rights to operate casinos, except for games administered at horse racing tracks. “We’re third in the nation for number of slot machines, and yet we’re 20th in the nation in money for treatment, awareness and so forth,” said Wiley Harwell, director of the Oklahoma Association on Problem and Compulsive Gambling. Similarly, 38 percent think the government should do more. According to a June study from the National Council on Problem Gambling, 60 percent of surveyed state citizens think the gaming industry should do more to help addicts. Oklahoma ranks as the fifth most gambling-addicted state in America, with an estimated 75,000 problem gamblers and historically high numbers of gambling-related embezzlement cases. But on one pair of doors, a more somber sign proclaims: “There is help for problem gambling.” Decorating the casino’s entrance are promotions and discount offers.

Patrons file in - some wearing jeans and t-shirts, some wearing dresses or suit jackets.

A cold front has chilled the December air, but a rainbow of neon lights warm the building’s sleek exterior.

Friday, cars crowd the parking lot of Riverwind Casino just south of Norman.

Oklahoma casino