Try your luck at a casino

For anyone eager to challenge Lady Luck, there are plenty of opportunities in the Flathead.

Across the county, dozens of establishments are licensed by the state for some kind of gambling Ñ cards or machines or both. Additionally, state law allows raffles and several card games.

In mid-1997, gambling also became legal on the Flathead Indian Reservation, after the tribes and state reached agreement on administration and licensing.

State law allows sports pools as well, but they must have a 100 percent payout, whether carried out privately or in a public place. It's even legal in Montana to bet on weather events, such as when the ice will go off a lake. Again, a 100 percent payout is required.

Gaming machines generate tax income for state and local governments. In the 2006 fiscal year, gambling in Flathead County poured more than $5.3 million into public coffers, including more than $1.7 million from the county, $510,418 from Columbia Falls, $2.2 million from Kalispell and $738,000 from Whitefish.

All machines show a verifiable payout of at least 80 percent of what is taken in.

There are nickel, quarter and dollar machines, all accepting $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills. The maximum bet is $2 while the payout on a machine is $800, and the odds of winning that are about 800,000 to 1.

Live bingo, keno and poker are legal, with games such as low-ball, five- and seven-card stud, six-card low, hold 'em, grizzly poker and others, depending on the establishment.

On the machines, gamblers have a choice of keno, bingo or a couple of kinds of poker.

Gambling hours are 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. unless city or county ordinances allow 24-hour gambling.