Civitas Poll: Voters Support Live Dealer Games at Cherokee Casino

Raleigh, N.C. – Sixty-four percent of North Carolina voters support the state allowing the Cherokees to offer live dealer games like Blackjack and Poker, according to a poll released today by the Civitas Institute.

The Cherokee Native American Reservation in Western North Carolina has a gambling casino whose games are all played on electronic machines.  There is a proposal to allow the Cherokees to have live dealer games such as Blackjack and Roulette, similar to Las Vegas.  Sixty-four percent of voters said they support it, 26 percent said they oppose the idea and 10 percent said they do not know or have no opinion.

There is broad support across all voter breakdowns for live dealer games at the Cherokee Reservation.  Looking at key regions, voters in Charlotte (73 percent) and the Southeast (69 percent) most support the proposal.  Seventy-seven percent of voters age 56-65 support it, along with 74 percent of 18-25 year olds and the 26-40 demographic (71 percent).  Additionally, there is bipartisan support among party registrants: Unaffiliated (68 percent – 23 percent), Democrats (65 percent – 22 percent), and Republicans (60 percent – 33 percent).

“This shows very strong voter support for allowing the Cherokee Nation to negotiate a new compact with North Carolina to allow Las Vegas style gambling,” said Civitas Institute President Francis De Luca.

Furthermore, 65 percent of voters say their opinion on this issue most aligns with those who cite a University of North Carolina study funded by the Cherokees which says that by allowing the casino to add dealers and table games, 400 jobs could be created and demand increased for dining and hotels.  Twenty-five percent of voters said allowing live dealer games will contribute to an increase in problem gambling, more crime and other social problems.

“At a minimum, this poll shows that the lure of jobs outweighs concerns over the social costs,” added De Luca.  “This could also be another sign of how much North Carolina has changed demographically and socially.”

The Civitas Poll is the only regular live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina.  For more information on Civitas polling see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.

Full Text of Questions:

“The Cherokee Native American Reservation in Western North Carolina has a gambling casino. The gambling games it currently offers are all played on electronic machines. There is a proposal to allow the Cherokees to have live dealer games such as blackjack and roulette like they have in Las Vegas. Would you support the state of North Carolina allowing the Cherokees to offer live dealer games like blackjack, poker, roulette and other games?”

Total Support – 64%

Total Oppose – 26%

Strongly Support – 38%

Somewhat Support – 26%

Somewhat Oppose – 7%

Strongly Oppose – 19%

Don’t Know/ No Opinion – 10%

 

“Which of the following statements comes closer to your opinion when it comes to allowing live dealer games at the Cherokee Native American Reservation?”

25% – Some/other people say that allowing live dealer games will contribute to an increase in problem gambling, lead to increased crime and other social problems and will not be worth the additional costs imposed on society and families

65% – Some/other people cite a UNC study funded by the Cherokees which states that by allowing the casino to add dealers and table games they may create up to 400 jobs and increase demand for services like dining and hotels and would allow the North Carolina casinos to compete on a level playing field with out of state casinos

7% – Don’t Know/Refused

1% – Don’t Care

Click here for full results and crosstabs.

This poll of 600 registered general election voters in North Carolina was conducted July 12-13, 2011 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ.  All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina.  For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past three general elections (2006, 2008, 2010) or be newly registered to vote since November 2, 2010.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in at least one of the past three general elections or is newly registered since November 2, 2010.

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