Class
I gaming is defined as traditional Indian
gaming and social games
for minimal prizes. Regulatory authority over
Class I gaming is
exclusively vested with the tribes, not the state
or federal
government. One example of such a game would be
Women's Gambling Dice -
Sierra Miwok Style, once played in the Yosemite
Valley. Traditionally,
a female-only game, it is played with six black
walnut half shells,
filled with pine resin and charcoal, and ten counter
sticks. The object
of the game is to win all the counter sticks onto
one side. The walnut
shells are used as dice and the gambling could
consist of play-by-play
betting, or end-of-game results.
Who says women don't know nuttin' 'bout craps?
Where
you played, Jack, offered only Class II gaming,
defined as the
game of chance commonly known as bingo. If played
in the same location
as the bingo, instant bingo, punch board, pull
tabs and other games
similar to bingo are also allowed. Class II gaming
can also include
non-banked card games. Non-banked games are played
exclusively
player-vs-player, and not against the house or
against any player
acting as a bank. The Act explicitly excludes
slot machines, or
electronic facsimiles of any of the class II games;
hence no one-armed
bandits.
Tribes
retain the authority to conduct, regulate and
license class II
gaming, as long as the state in which the Tribe
is located permits such
gaming for any other purpose. So, if for example
Our Lady of Guadalupe
in Billings, MT offers a bingo night, then all
Montana tribes are
allowed to have all forms of bingo, including
those bingo slots that
you described.
Class
III gaming, often referred to a casino-style
gaming, is
wide-ranging and includes casino games such as
slot machines, black
jack, craps, roulette, poker, etc.
Before
a Tribe is allowed access to your wallet, the
following
conditions must be met: (1) The Tribe must negotiate
a compact with the
state and the compact must be approved by the
Secretary of the
Interior; (2) The particular form of class III
gaming that the Tribe
wants to conduct must be permitted in the state
in which the tribe is
located; (3) The Tribe has to adopt a Tribal gaming
ordinance that has
been approved by the Chairman of the State's Gaming
Commission.
As
to your question regarding bingo slots, yep, Jack,
they are
recognized by Uncle Sam as Class II gaming devices,
because electronic,
computer, or other technological aids used in
connection with bingo are
allowed. One such company, Rocket Gaming, headquartered
in Miami, OK,
provides Class II bingo slots to approximately
55 Native American
gaming facilities in 13 states. Specializing in
wide-area linked
progressives, their machines are played in real
time, with players
competing against each other for major progressive
jackpots.
True,
Jack, they look and feel like typical slot machines,
but
technically they're not.
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