Oklahoma tribe secures Isle of Man online gaming licence

The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma has announced plans to launch an online poker site after securing an Isle of Man online gaming licence.

The tribe said it plans to launch PokerTribe.com “sometime in the fall”, with the product available to international customers, as allowed by law under the tribe’s gaming compact with the State of Oklahoma.

The poker site will be operated by the tribe’s subsidiary, Ioway Internet Gaming Enterprise Limited, which is registered in the Isle of Man.

“The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma is proud to be the first Native American tribe to secure an international online gaming licence,” Iowa Tribe chairman Bobby Walkup said.

“The process has taken longer than we may have envisioned when we began this journey, but, because we are a Native American tribe and held to higher gaming legal and regulatory standards, we had to ensure that we met all these standards.

“While we are excited about receiving the licence we really do not have time to celebrate. Our attention has now turned to going live with PokerTribe.com.”

Chairman Walkup said the Iowa Tribe and the Isle of Man company are also planning to make an announcement within the next 10 days of the hiring of a general manager who has extensive experience in international online gaming to oversee the launch of PokerTribe.com.