Sycuan Rebels

 The dramatic tug-of-war between the state and Native American casinos continues. As a major source of revenue for tribes, slot machines and casinos are an integral part of Native American life. Indian gaming is such a huge issue because the government needs to control and regulate issues such as where the casinos are permitted to operate, how many slot machines they are allowed to have on the playing floor, and exactly what kinds of games they are allowed to feature. For example, one of the latest debates is over whether or not bingo machines are considered slot machines, which affect the way in which the number of machines are counted.

The latest issue under the microscope is that of Sycuan Casino allegedly rigging slot machines. Similar to the bingo definition issue, there are allegations that the casino actually modified the bingo games to operate faster. It wouldn’t seem like any real big issue except for the fact that it muddies the line between a Vegas-style slot machine and a lower-payout, slower machine, like the bingo kind. There is a limit on how many of the Vegas-style slots a casino is allowed to have, so if some slots start to behave more like those, the question is, which kind of slot machines would they count as? If the state were to rule that they are more like Vegas-style slots, then it would mean that the casino is automatically over their limit, and therefore, breaking the rules.

Back to July 2008 Archive.