Tribal Class II offerings have evolved from electronic bingo to viable video slots that can compete on any slot floor
By Frank Legato
The history of Class II electronic bingo under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 is one of conflict . Originally introduced as an “ electronic enhancement ” of traditional bingo under IGRA ’ s Class II rules , electronic bingo machines would evolve through an effort by suppliers to multiply potential bingo-card patterns and work the math , displaying bingo results as the reel results in games that looked identical to the slot machines in commercial casinos .
Pioneering tribes , notably the Seminole Tribe of Florida , showcased Class II slot machines during the 1990s as the technology improved to make them appear more slot-like . The Seminoles ’ expanding use of Class II games ultimately led the tribe into legal roadblocks , including a 1996 lawsuit by the state of Florida attempting to enjoin the Seminoles from offering the games , which the state claimed were in reality “ electronic or electromechanical facsimiles of games of chance ,” prohibited under Class II of IGRA .
While that particular lawsuit was dismissed on tribal immunity grounds , the Seminoles and other tribes would win subsequent legal and bureaucratic battles over the nature of Class II electronic bingo machines , including an extended battle with the National Indian Gaming Commission , the federal agency overseeing Indian gaming . Former NIGC Chairman Philip Hogen spent much of his 2002-2009 tenure attempting to establish technical standards for Class II that would draw what he called a “ bright line ” distinguishing Class II games from Class III casino slots .
Some of those standards were the very elements preventing Class II from enjoying earnings approaching Class III slots — such as a rule requiring multiple “ touches ” by the player to complete each play on the slot , simulating the “ daubing ” of a bingo card . As his term was nearing its end in 2008 , Hogen announced that NIGC was dropping the most controversial standards initially proposed for Class II games , including multiple touches .
Ironically , by that time , the Seminoles had moved on to Class III , negotiating a compact with Florida that was finalized in 2010 , giving the tribe the right to offer Class III slot games . Across the country in California , a few other of the most successful gaming tribes in the U . S . were earning profits mainly from compacted Class III slot machines — which had been deemed a necessity as the young California tribal industry competed with nearby Nevada .
Meanwhile , game developers working for leading suppliers of both Class II and Class III slot machines refined the technology and game math , allowing Class II slot games to perform and play ever closer to the game experience provided by their Class III counterparts .
Today ’ s Class II market is served not only by a few longtime Class II stalwarts , but by a collection of well-capitalized suppliers that benefited from major mergers and acquisitions . The former Global Cash Access merged with traditional Class II supplier ( and fast-growing Class III company ) Multimedia Games to form Everi ; AGS acquired veteran Class II supplier Cadillac Jack . Slot giant Aristocrat acquired Tennessee-based Class II company VGT .
The resulting financially powerful companies have joined large suppliers like IGT and Scientific Games , which have long supplied Class II Native American markets , and smaller but well-established Class II suppliers such as Georgia ’ s Eclipse Gaming , in steadily improving the technology of Class II to the point where the two styles of games are now more similar than ever .
“ It ’ s tremendous what ’ s happened over the last five years ,” says Andrew Burke , senior vice president of slot products for AGS . “ Everything , from in-
30 TRIBAL GOVERNMENT GAMING 2019