STATE'S GAMBLE ON EXPANSION OF CASINOS CRITICIZED.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: JAMES M. ODATO Capitol bureau

VERONA -- The state might be shooting craps with its plans to raise money from video lottery terminals and may be playing with fire by attempting to force tribes into unfavorable casino deals, gaming analysts and Indian representatives said Wednesday.

Tribal leaders from three Iroquois tribes attending the New York Gaming Summit at Turning Stone Casino added that the Pataki administration's alliance with out-of-state tribes seeking casino deals is winning no friends among in-state tribes.

``They're trying to use those negotiations to leverage,'' said Ray Halbritter, representative of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York, hosts of New York Gaming Summit, the third annual conference conducted by gambling …