COLUMBIA, S.C. - Attorneys for the Catawbas argued in court Friday that the Indians' 1993 land settlement allows them to operate video poker on their reservation, while state attorneys countered the Legislature banned video poker statewide in 2000.

Judge Joseph Strickland promised Friday to rule on the case before he starts vacation Dec. 19.

The Catawbas sued the state in July for the ability to operate video poker on their reservation in York and Lancaster counties. The tribe contends profits at its bingo hall, opened in Rock Hill in 1997, dropped by nearly half after the state began operating a lottery in 2002.

If the judge rules in their favor, said Assistant Catawba Chief Buck George, the Catawbas will quickly open a video poker facility to raise funds for economic development.

Catawba lawyer Jay Bender opened with a history lesson, going back to land treaties signed in the 1760s. The Catawbas call the case another example of South Carolina breaking its promise with the tribe.

"All we want is what the law says we should have," said Jason Harris, a member of the tribe's executive committee. "We've been fighting for years. We continue to fight. It's just done a different way now ... The state's operating legalized gambling with the lottery. The state just seems to want a monopoly."

After years of negotiations, the state and federal governments in 1993 settled the tribe's land claim to 144,000 acres seized by South Carolina in 1840. The $50 million settlement allowed the tribe to operate high-stakes bingo at two sites.

The Catawbas tried to open a second bingo hall off Interstate 95 in Santee, a prospect welcomed by Orangeburg County lawmakers and business leaders as a job creator.

But opposition led by state Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, blocked the Catawbas' efforts.

When legislation allowing the Santee bingo parlor failed last year, the Catawbas made good on their promise to sue the state to operate video poker on their 760-acre reservation.

Had the state allowed bingo in Santee, the Catawbas would not be in court, George said.

The hearing centers around two sentences in the settlement act. One says "the tribe may permit on its reservation video poker or similar electronics to the same extent that the devices are authorized by state law." The attorney general's office points out subsequent state law made video poker illegal.

But the paragraph goes on to say that if the reservation sits in counties that prohibit video poker, "the tribe nonetheless must be permitted to operate the devices on the reservation if the governing body of the tribe so authorizes."

State lawyers contend that refers to a possible county-by-county referendum, not a statewide law. Catawba lawyers say the sentences mean the Catawbas could authorize others to operate video poker if state law allowed it, but if not, they could operate the games themselves.

Lawyer Dwight Drake likened it to the difference between the state formerly allowing video poker businesses, and operating the lottery itself.

State Sen. John Matthews, D-Bowman, said he'd still like to see the Catawbas open a bingo hall in Santee, but he'll wait for the judge's ruling before deciding how to proceed.

"The community is on board," he said during a break in Friday's hearing. "It would change our community substantially."