Dry casinos and alcohol
In Indian country, the liquor sections in 18 U.S.C. §1161 yield only when the act matches state law and a tribal ordinance the Secretary certified and published. Which floor is dry is a property page, not a state label.
Answer first
90s| Page re-read | Alcohol line on that page |
|---|---|
| 18 U.S.C. §1161 | State law plus a certified tribal ordinance in the Register |
| Legends Casino | Alcohol-free property. 18+ to gamble. |
| Choctaw house rules | Alcoholic beverages sold. 21 to obtain alcohol. |
| Osage locations | 21 to buy or consume alcoholic beverages. |
| Sherwood Valley Casino | Alcohol sales. 21+ Fri–Mon; 18+ Tue–Thu. |
| Seven Clans Warroad | Alcohol sold at Puck & Pints since 3 Jul 2019. |
| Ho-Chunk Nekoosa | Swiftwater Lounge serves alcoholic beverages. |
| Shingobee on the Bay | Alcohol available during business hours. |
Progress
When §1161 steps the liquor sections aside
- 1
Indian country
The act or transaction is inside Indian country
- 2
State law
It conforms with the laws of that state
- 3
Tribal ordinance
The tribe with jurisdiction duly adopted it
- 4
Secretary
The Secretary of the Interior certified it
- 5
Federal Register
The ordinance is published in the Register
USCODE-2024 §1161: sections 1154, 1156, 3113, 3488, and 3669 do not apply when both the state-law and ordinance conditions are met. A floor’s drink rule is a separate page.
Floor rules
Floors named on the pages
Know before you sit
- Legends Casino
- Yakama Nation property in Washington. The home page says Legends is an alcohol-free property and that guests must be 18+ to gamble. That sentence is this floor only.
- Choctaw casino sites
- The house-rules location list names Durant, Pocola, Grant, Choctaw Landing in Hochatown, McAlester, Broken Bow, Idabel, and Stringtown. Alcoholic beverages are sold in the casino; guests must be 21 to obtain alcohol. Travel plazas are absent from that list.
- Osage Casino properties
- The locations page names Ponca City, Skiatook, Tulsa, Bartlesville, Hominy, Pawhuska, and Sand Springs. Guests must be 21 to purchase or consume alcoholic beverages at an Osage Casino property. Sand Springs is also described with a full bar.
- Four single-floor pages
- Sherwood Valley Casino, Seven Clans Casino Warroad, Ho-Chunk Gaming Nekoosa, and Shingobee on the Bay each use the word alcohol on their own page. The answer table quotes the line.
At the door
Five checks before the drink question
Gate pass
21+
Liquor sections
§1161 names sections 1154, 1156, 3113, 3488, and 3669. They drop out only when the conditions below are both met.
State conformity
The act in Indian country has to conform with the laws of the state where it occurs.
Ordinance on file
The tribe with jurisdiction must have duly adopted an ordinance, and the Secretary of the Interior must have certified it.
Register publication
That ordinance must be published in the Federal Register. A casino homepage is not that publication.
Alcohol-free floor
Legends Casino’s home page says the property is alcohol-free. The other named floors on this page describe sales or a bar.
1154, ≡, ✎, ▣, and ∅ are the statute gates plus the one dry floor. They are not a national map.
Sequence
How a floor got onto this page
Step 01
Start from the dossier field
Only facilities with entry.alcohol set to yes or no, plus a level and a URL, were candidates. Unknown rows were skipped.
Step 02
Open that URL again
Each line above was re-read on 12 October 2026. A dossier note without the words still on the page was dropped.
Step 03
Keep the property name
Shared house rules count only for sites the page itself lists. A sister travel plaza on the same URL in a dossier was not added.
Step 04
Leave the federal test beside it
§1161 is the Indian-country liquor condition. It does not say whether Legends, Durant, or Warroad sells drinks.
Bars named on the page
| Property | What the page states |
|---|---|
| 4 Bears Casino and Lodge | Bar hours are posted on the home page |
| Casino Oklahoma | Full-service bar hours are posted |
| Grand Casino Hotel Resort | Grandstand Sports Bar; Grand House Brewing & Bars |
| Thunder Valley Casino Resort | FAQ names Thunder Bar, Lobby Bar, and others |
These four pages name a bar or post bar hours. They do not use the sentence “alcohol-free.”
Watch outs
Reads that overshoot the page
01A dry state
Legends Casino’s alcohol-free line is one Yakama Nation property. The page does not speak for other Washington floors.
02Every Choctaw address
Travel plazas in the dossier share the house-rules URL, and the location list on that page does not name them. They are not in the served list here.
03IGRA as the liquor statute
Class I, II, and III are 25 U.S.C. chapter 29. The liquor condition on this page is 18 U.S.C. §1161. See /en/guides/how-tribal-casinos-work/.
04A blank alcohol field
Most dossier facilities leave alcohol unknown. Those floors are omitted. Omission is a gap in the cited page, not a wet or dry finding.
05A commercial licence
The tribal floors above are not Nevada commercial cards. Who holds the tribal stack: /en/guides/who-regulates-tribal-casinos/.
After the 90 seconds
Questions before and after you play
A 90-second guide cannot cover every table moment. Tap a group, then a question — answers are short paragraphs, not one-liners.
01The federal condition
Do Indian casinos serve alcohol?
There is no single national answer. 18 U.S.C. §1161 (2024 edition) says sections 1154, 1156, 3113, 3488, and 3669 do not apply to an act in Indian country when that act conforms both with the laws of the state and with an ordinance the tribe adopted, the Secretary of the Interior certified, and the Federal Register published. Whether a named floor sells drinks is whatever that floor’s page says. This is orientation, not legal advice.
What does 18 U.S.C. §1161 require?
For an act or transaction inside Indian country, the listed liquor sections do not apply only when two conformities are both present: the laws of the state where the act occurs, and an ordinance duly adopted by the tribe having jurisdiction, certified by the Secretary of the Interior, and published in the Federal Register. Outside Indian country those sections do not apply at all. The statute text was re-read on GovInfo’s 2024 edition on 12 October 2026.
Does a casino homepage replace the Federal Register?
No. Publication in the Federal Register is one of the ordinance conditions in §1161. A resort homepage can show that this property sells drinks or calls itself alcohol-free. That homepage is not the Secretary’s certification and it is not the Register notice. Both documents do different jobs.
02Named floors
Which casino on this page is dry?
Legends Casino, the Yakama Nation property, is the only alcohol-free floor re-read for this guide. Its home page says the property is alcohol-free and that guests must be 18+ to gamble. No other dossier URL re-checked on 12 October 2026 used an alcohol-free line. That does not label Washington.
Which named floors say alcohol is sold?
Choctaw house rules say alcoholic beverages are sold and that guests must be 21 to obtain alcohol, for the eight casino sites on that location list. Osage’s locations page says guests must be 21 to purchase or consume alcoholic beverages at an Osage Casino property, and it names seven locations. Sherwood Valley Casino, Seven Clans Casino Warroad, Ho-Chunk Gaming Nekoosa, and Shingobee on the Bay each state alcohol on their own page. 4 Bears, Casino Oklahoma, Grand Casino Hotel Resort, and Thunder Valley name a bar or post bar hours.
Are Choctaw travel plazas on the served list?
No. The house-rules page lists Durant, Pocola, Grant, Choctaw Landing in Hochatown, McAlester, Broken Bow, Idabel, and Stringtown. Travel-plaza names that point at the same URL in the dossier are not on that location list, so this guide does not call them served or dry.
Sources
- 18 U.S.C. §1161 — Indian liquor laws (USCODE-2024) · accessed Oct 12, 2026Sections 1154, 1156, 3113, 3488, and 3669 do not apply in Indian country when the act conforms with state law and a tribal ordinance certified by the Secretary and published in the Federal Register.
- Legends Casino — home page · accessed Oct 12, 2026Alcohol-free property. Must be 18+ to gamble. Yakama Nation floor in the tribal dossier.
- Choctaw Casinos — house rules · accessed Oct 12, 2026Alcoholic beverages sold in the casino; 21 to obtain alcohol. Location list: eight casino sites, not travel plazas.
- Osage Casino — locations · accessed Oct 12, 202621 to purchase or consume alcoholic beverages at an Osage Casino property. Seven locations named; Sand Springs full bar.
- Sherwood Valley Casino — home page · accessed Oct 12, 202618+ Tuesday–Thursday; 21+ Friday–Monday because of alcohol sales. Re-read 12 October 2026.
- Seven Clans Casino Warroad · accessed Oct 12, 2026Alcohol sales began 3 July 2019 and are sold at Puck & Pints Bar.
- Ho-Chunk Gaming Nekoosa · accessed Oct 12, 2026Swiftwater Lounge is open daily serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
- Shingobee on the Bay · accessed Oct 12, 2026Alcohol is available during business hours through a bartender, server, or supervisor.
- 4 Bears Casino and Lodge · accessed Oct 12, 2026Home page posts bar hours separate from casino hours.
- Casino Oklahoma · accessed Oct 12, 2026Full-service bar hours are stated on the home page.
- Grand Casino Hotel Resort — casino · accessed Oct 12, 2026Page names Grandstand Sports Bar and Grand House Brewing & Bars.
- Thunder Valley Casino Resort — FAQ · accessed Oct 12, 2026FAQ names restaurants and bars, including Thunder Bar, Lobby Bar, and High Steaks Bar.