Officials with new Gov. Jim Doyle denied that they cut any pre-election deals with the Ho-Chunk.

But the tribe did drop a $500,000 soft-money donation with the Democratic National Committee just days before the gubernatorial runoff - certainly the largest political gift by a Wisconsin tribe. The DNC then dumped nearly $1 million in Wisconsin in the final week of the increasingly tight race to help elect Doyle and the rest of the party's slate.

Last week the Doyle team announced, to nearly everyone's surprise in Madison, that it had reached a tentative deal with the Oneida tribe that would allow it to offer a full slate of casino games 24/7 forever and a day - an incredibly generous agreement that was expected to be a model for the other 10 tribes.

"It was very clear to me, given the conversation I had with (Ho-Chunk lawyer) Mike Rogowski, what the end result would be," Schmitz said. "Whoever agreed to perpetual compacts and secondly, more games, could end up being the recipient or the party would be the recipient of vast amounts of money."

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We wouldn't want casino expansion in the state without more controversy. Attempts by other tribes and the dog tracks to get into the action have been defeated and backed with large donations from the casinos that already have compacts. Small wonder, they want to protect their piece of the pie.

Another part of the bone is the taverns in the state who have been lobbying for slots, or at least video poker. Many of the taverns around the state already have slot type machines, which have signs on them "For Entertainment Only" but without too much asking, you can get the credits for your "entertainment" turned back into cash.

Video Poker would be the best deal for the players, because who knows what payout schedule is being set on the tavern machines now. (some guess that it's 70% or below) At least VP is random and an 8-5 machine can't be rigged to pay out less.