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All deadlines and grace periods have passed in the dispute over a new blackjack deal for Seminole casinos in Florida. As Matt Galka tells us, the tables won’t be folding up anytime soon.

The deadline for a new gambling deal between Florida and the Seminole tribe expired over the summer. The 90 day grace period was up Thursday at midnight.  The state has maintained that they expect Seminole Casinos to stop dealing blackjack after the grace period ends. The Governor was asked about the deadline earlier this week.

“My legal team is reviewing it, and we’re going to do the right thing for the state,” said Gov. Rick Scott.

The cards are still being dealt and the Tribe’s lawyer says there’s really not much the state can do.

“The state doesn’t have any jurisdiction to go in and shut it down, only the federal government does, but second, because the compact itself in the compact the parties agreed that this is the way we’ll resolve a dispute like this,” said Attorney Barry Richard.

Richard says the Seminoles have gone through all three steps they’ve needed to in an attempt to reach a resolution.  The latest was filing a lawsuit in federal court Monday.  Richard says the court will have the final say if no new deal is reached. Florida State University gambling professor Marc Dunbar agrees.

“Until they actually file something in the federal court requesting some level of injunction there’s really nothing the state can do. The state can’t send law enforcement officers to stop the activity,” said Dunbar.

The Seminoles allege the state breached the terms of the deal by violating the exclusivity rights of blackjack when they allowed video versions of the game elsewhere in the state. They say that gives them the right to stop paying the state, something they haven’t done yet.

The state has made more than a billion dollars form the Seminole Compact since it started.  We reached out to the Governor’s office directly about the deadline passing and have yet to receive a response.