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Though many people worldwide think that the US is a gaming haven, the reality is that this is not the case. Furthermore, gambling in North America has largely been illegal for most of Canada’s and the United States' existence. Though gaming got brought over to this continent via the first British-American colonies, it was not instantly a hit, a highly popular or widespread activity. The degree to which people in North America enjoyed games of chance dramatically varied from state to state in the late 1600s and the early 1700s. For example, in the state of Virginia, horse race betting was an established hobby but only for upper-class citizens, meaning the social elites. Then, in the mid-1700s, lotteries became a thing, utilized as handy fundraising tools. At least, that was the case until the British put an end to them in 1769, fueling much tension between the British and the Colonies.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the gold rushes began to attract ambitious prospectors who revitalized games of chance in settlements in the West and around California. At this time, horse racing was still an expensive hobby reserved for the rich, but off-track betting became a trend thanks to the emergence of communication systems like the telegraph. Faro, a precursor to poker, was also making waves here.
Then, in the 1930s, Nevada began its gambling expansion, powered by the hotel boom in the Battle Born State. In the 1970s, New Jersey and Pennsylvania legalized gaming entertainment. At the tail end of this decade, in 1979, the initial native casino was built in the Sunshine State (Florida) by the Seminole tribe, operating mainly as a bingo parlor. Before this venue got up and running, Native Americans had no experience in running commercial gambling establishments at such a large scale. To regulate this sector, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act got passed in 1988, and it gets discussed in more detail below.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act Explained
Here, we have a US federal law that came into force in October 1988 but was introduced in the US Senate in February 1987 by Daniel Inouye, a senator from Hawaii. It introduced the jurisdictional framework that regulates Indian gaming in the United States. The purpose of this law was to lay the legal foundation under which Indian gaming locales can operate, producing revenues for the tribes that run them. That would protect their enterprise from organized crime and stimulate economic development on reservations.
It goes without saying that gambling has long been a part of Native American culture, with shell and dice games, horse races, and archery competitions being present in most tribes' customs. In the mid-1800s, most Native Americans were left with few economic opportunities and moved to live on reservations, where they faced social distress caused by unemployment and considerable poverty.
The country sought to give these portions of the country's population a leg up by allowing them to generate profits through an activity that was largely illegal in the nation - gaming. Hence, when they saw that bingo halls opened up on tribal land in Florida and California and were producing decent revenues, the Reagan administration took note. Thus, slowly, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act came to life. It classified games into three types, each boasting a unique regulatory scheme. Class I includes ceremonial games or social ones that pay out small prizes. Class II includes the famed bingo-style options. In this category, non-banked card games and election games can get classified, as well as video lottery terminals or slots with a bingo soul. Now, Class III is Vegas-type gambling, traditional table games like roulette and blackjack, plus real reel-spinning machines and video poker.
According to the NIGC, the National Indian Gaming Commission, a body founded via the IGRA, there are now more than three hundred and fifty Native American gaming venues across the US, run by more than two hundred recognized tribes.
Native American Gaming Today
In 2022, the National Indian Gaming Commission posted reports that showed that for that financial year, Indian gaming pulled in its highest gaming revenues, totaling $40.9 billion. That figure represented a $1.9 billion increase from 2021. According to the NIGC, the number was a display of the resilience that tribal operators showed throughout the global COVID pandemic. Moreover, this report showed the financial diversity that the Indian gaming sector has, with a little over half of tribal gaming properties posting revenues of $25 million or under.
Going by the latest data, Oklahoma, home to the world's most massive casino, the WinStar Resort, boasting a total gaming space of three hundred and seventy thousand square feet, is the US state with the most tribal gambling facilities, with one hundred and forty. California is in second place with seventy-seven, and Minnesota comes in at the third spot with forty. Though Florida is a US region that gets heavily associated with Native American casinos, primarily on account of the Seminole Hard Rocks and the Seminole Classic, this state favored by retirees only has Seminole's seven gaming establishments and no other tribal venues.
Lastly, we should add that Indiana is the sole state with only one casino, likely on account that only Class II gaming gets allowed in this American territory famous for its vast farmlands and steel mills.
American Indian Online Gambling
We are sure that many readers would be shocked to know that many developed European countries only recently legalized online gambling. For instance, Germany formalized this pastime legally in 2021. Yet, other Old Continent states did this more than a decade ago. UK betting sites have been running since the mid-2000s, and Belgium casino platforms launched at the start of the 2010s.
Concerning American online gambling, mobile betting was allowed in the US in 2018, and remote casino gambling got the green light in 2011 through a novel Wire Act DOJ interpretation. As the Internet gambling sector grows, Native tribes are hurt by its expansion, as gaming/betting exclusivity diminishes across the nation. That birthed a broad tribal coalition that opposes online gambling measures in many states because no tribe operates in this sector. Though in North Dakota and other regions, they want rights to exclusivity in this arena, with many saying that this will come at the cost of the charitable gaming industry.