Shares of gambling-machine makers rose Friday after the Oklahoma Legislature passed a measure to allow three horse-racing tracks to operate the same electronic betting games being played at the state's Indian casinos, and assured the legality of the tribal-operated games.


The Oklahoma House, in a 52-47 vote Thursday, passed Senate Bill 553, which the state Senate had already approved. The measure has the support of Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry and the state's horse industry and Indian tribes.


Shares of Austin, Texas-based Multimedia Games Inc., the major player in Oklahoma's tribal electronic-bingo market, rose $1.66, or 4.1 percent, to $42.


The stock of slot-machine maker Alliance Gaming Corp. was up 41 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $24.28, and competitor International Game Technology's shares rose $1.84, or 4.9 percent, to $39.24.


The Oklahoma legislation excludes slot machines, but its passage will open the door for International Game and Alliance Gaming to enter the state's electronic bingo market and offer other video betting games the measure may allow, Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Eric Hausler said.


The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide Monday whether to consider a challenge to the video-bingo games that tribes in Oklahoma and some other places operate without benefit of a specific regulatory compact with the states, the analyst said.


The Oklahoma bill will allow tribes in that state to enter such a compact, giving their electronic-bingo games a protected status and diminishing the threat of an adverse high-court ruling for Multimedia, Hausler said.