While the U.S. Department of Interior seems likely before the end of the year to approve the gaming compact that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed with the Seminole Tribe, don't expect to see Class 3 gaming at Seminole casinos on New Year's Day.

Or, for that matter, on Memorial Day 2008, the Fourth of July, or Labor Day.

The Department of Interior has until Dec. 28 to approve the Crist-Seminole compact, and most observers believe federal approval is all but a certainty. But experts believe with litigation and legislative challenges just starting, it will be many months -- if not years -- before the Seminoles are able to offer Class 3 gaming.

"My guess is between a year and two years before this all plays out," said Robert Jarvis, a professor at Nova Southeast ern University who is a gaming law expert.

The Florida House and Speaker Marco Rubio already have petitioned the Florida Supreme Court seeking to block Gov. Charlie Crist from permitting Class 3 gaming for the Seminoles without the Legislature's approval.

The petition argues that the compact that Crist signed with the Seminoles on Nov. 14th violates the Florida Constitution's separation of powers clause and encroaches on the Legislature's law and policymaking authority.

Rubio contends that five other state supreme courts, in suits filed by legislatures, have held that "a governor may not unilaterally bind a state to a gaming compact" with Indian tribes.

If the Florida Supreme Court takes up the case, as seems likely, it will set a schedule for motions and hearings.

Rubio has said he hopes the Florida Supreme Court will decide the case within the next 40 days so that if he prevails, the legislature will have time to vote to reject the compact before it can be implemented.

Meantime, the Florida Senate is still considering its next moves, and Florida's pari-mutuel slot casinos -- which have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to state lawmakers -- have made it clear they have no intention of giving up without a fight.

""The state gave away the store," said Dan Adkins, chief gaming executive at Mardi Gras Racetrack and Gaming Center in Hallandale Beach.