The state's top lawyer and a local parimutuel on Thursday began pursuing a two-pronged approach to staunch the spread of the Seminole Tribe's Las Vegas-style card games, such as blackjack, which the Florida Supreme Court nullified months ago.

The actions come after the tribe expanded blackjack to three of its casinos, most recently Tampa and Immokalee.

The expansions have steamed the operators of South Florida's horse and dog tracks and jai-alai frontons, who claim their profits have tanked since the tribe introduced the new card games. They've formed a coalition to urge state lawmakers to renegotiate the deal with the Seminoles -- a landmark agreement that will help determine where residents in South Florida go to gamble.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Bill McCollum sent a letter to U.S. Attorney A. Richard Albritton of the Middle District of Florida encouraging him to ''initiate a criminal prosecution to put an end to the calculated illegal expansion'' of gambling. McCollum does not have the jurisdiction to prosecute on sovereign Indian land, but Albritton does.

McCollum has asked the federal government to step in and stop the tribe from offering the games at least three times previously, with no results.

Shawn Pensoneau, spokesman for the National Indian Gaming Commission -- which has the power to regulate Indian gaming -- said on Thursday that the agency is still studying the Supreme Court decision that declared the compact agreement invalid.

Penny Coleman, the agency's general counsel, noted in an Oct. 3 letter to McCollum that the court ``did not order any party to take specific action and did not specifically declare the previously executed tribal-state compact invalid.''

The expansion is sure to add a new dimension to the compact's renegotiation in the Legislature, where lawmakers could now decide whether expanding operations was a fair move -- or a brazen act. After the Florida Supreme Court legally shredded the compact in July, the only legal way for the state to enter into a deal with the tribe is through the Legislature.

On Thursday, Gov. Charlie Crist said he would prefer lawmakers take up the issue during its special session in January.

''The Seminole compact is a way to generate some additional resources, not insignificant resources,'' Crist said. ``So I am encouraging that. Whether it's, you know, during January or March, I think the sooner the better if possible.''

SUPREME COURT

Meanwhile, attorneys representing Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach filed a motion with the state Supreme Court Thursday asking the court to enforce and finalize the ruling it made in July invalidating the compact.

The agreement guaranteed the state at least $100 million a year for the next quarter century, so long as other casinos weren't allowed to expand their gambling offerings.

Blackjack and other house-banked card games first opened at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino near Hollywood earlier this year. In November, the tribe added 104 blackjack and other card tables to the Hard Rock near Tampa. This month, it added 12 tables to the casino in Immokalee for the same purpose.

LEGISLATURE

Barry Richard, an attorney who represents the tribe, said Thursday there's no reason for criminal prosecution for the expansions -- which he asserts are still legal.

''All we're asking is that we have an opportunity to work this out with the Legislature,'' Richard said.

``The alternative is to fire a lot of people brought in to work at the casinos and stop the state from getting a large sum of money during a time when they desperately need it.''

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