Class II gambling, which you’d find in California and many other states, is restricted to "bingo." But don’t let the term fool you. Over the course of many years and court battles, "bingo" has been construed to include, for instance, video lottery terminals (VLTs), in which players vie against each other, not the house, for jackpots. Electronic simulations of table games have also been devised to get around the no-banked-games rule.
Class I is barely worth discussing, as it is restricted to games that are historically associated with the tribe and "social gaming," such as raffles.
The most significant development in tribal gambling in recent years is the Supreme Court’s Carcieri v. Salazar ruling. In order to set up casinos, tribes must have the land "taken into trust" by the Interior Department for that purpose. However, in 2009, the high court ruled against the Obama administration, saying that, of 565 tribes, those recognized after 1934 were ineligible for this process.
This has caused difficulty for a number of tribes, such as Massachusetts’ Mashpee Wampanoags, that dearly want to get into the game but whose federal recognition is of recent vintage. (A "Carcieri fix" that would nullify the Supreme Court’s ruling is currently stalled in Congress.) Gambling opponents attempted to turn the clock back, both in 1995 and 1997, with the Indian Trust Lands Reform Act, which would have forbade the Secretary of the Interior from taking land into trust for "commercial" (read: casino) purposes. It was rebuffed both times.
While many tribes have their own regulatory boards, additional oversight also is the purview of the National Indian Gaming Commission, which audits tribal casinos annually, and of the FBI. The sorts of problems associated with any casino (drunk driving, compulsive gambling, etc.) have inevitably spilled off of tribal lands and into the surrounding area. However, financially strapped municipalities have enjoyed the benefit of infrastructural improvements, such as paved roads, made possible by the largesse of nearby tribes. Tribal casinos have also become major advertising purchasers. It’s difficult to watch a Major Leage Baseball game on TV without seeing banner ads around the stadium for nearby tribal casinos.
It is important to remember, however, that tribal gaming is not a rising tide that has lifted all boats. Fewer than half (approximately 220) American tribal bands are in the gambling business, accounting for over 350 casinos, card rooms, etc. That leaves literally hundreds of tribes still mired in poverty, accounting for the painfully high unemployment rates seen in the Native American community. However, are Indian tribes generally better off and more self-sufficient thanks to "the new buffalo," gambling? The dollar figures don’t lie and the answer is yes.
