By Business Journal Staff
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas plans to open a temporary casino in East Texas this summer as construction begins on what is expected to become the state’s largest casino resort.
A groundbreaking ceremony is June 18 for the New Naskila Casino Resort.
The new temporary casino facility will be on the Tribe’s existing tribal reservation land in Leggett.
The temporary casino will be open 24 hours a day, featuring 300 of the “most exciting” electronic bingo machines for guests to enjoy. The new facility will also offer a 24-hour deli, a fountain drink station, a player’s club, and approximately 300 parking spaces.
“This temporary facility will provide a positive economic impact for Polk County, surrounding communities and for the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe.
The temporary casino will create 110 new jobs, strengthen local partnership, and establish a foundation for long-term tourism growth” stated Tribal Council Chairman Ricky Sylestine.
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe owns and operates Naskila Casino and Ischoopa Travel Center located on its tribal reservation land on U.S. Highway 190 Park Road 56 between Livingston and Woodville.
Since its opening in 2016, Naskila Casino offers its guests Class II bingo machines, a smoking and non-smoking gaming area, Timbers Grille Restaurant and Café Itto Si, player’s club, fountain drink stations and a gift shop.
Ischoop Travel Center has a 12-bay fuel station including diesel, a convenience store, a 24-hour deli and offers its guests 81 exciting Class II bingo machines.
Currently, the biggest casino resort in Texas is the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass, near the Mexican border.
It’s one of just three gambling facilities in the state. These include the Alabama-Coushatta’s own Naskila Casino in Livingston — a modest gambling hall — that will close to make way for the larger Naskila Casino Resort, according to Casino.org.
Few details about the project have been released, but the venue, to be known as the Naskila Casino Resort, is expected to boast “a state-of-the-art casino floor, hotel accommodations, and diverse dining and entertainment options,” according to a press release from the Tribe.
Unlike the original facility, the new venue will be built off reservation on land owned by the Tribe. In September 2025, Tribal Chairwoman Cecilia Flores told the Polk County Enterprise that the federal National Indian Gaming Commission had confirmed the land was eligible for gaming.
The Tribe has not said publicly how the project will be financed, nor has it mentioned whether it intends to partner with a major gaming company on the project.
The expansion follows a landmark June 2023 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that Texas cannot prevent the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe from offering Class II gaming, including electronic bingo, on its reservation under federal law.
The decision capped decades of litigation between Texas and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe, along with the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, over tribal gaming rights.
