Will Texas Hold 'Em? Oklahoma Stands to Lose If Its Neighbor Changes Stance on Gaming

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On any given weekend, the parking lot of the Choctaw Casino Resort here is filled.

Buses, cars and recreational vehicles litter the parking lot - many of them from Texas.

Those cars demonstrate one of the more unusual aspects of the Oklahoma economy. While the state continues to emerge from the 2009 recession, one of the strongest parts of our economic engine isn't the oil and gas industry or Oklahoma's agricultural sector. Instead, in many places, especially along south Interstate 35 toward Texas and in other parts of southeastern Oklahoma such as Durant, it's the state's Native American tribes and their strength in the gaming industry that keep local economies …