Federal Regulation Works!
That's what Nelson Westrin, vice-chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission, said at one session. He came ready to defend the proposed technical standards for Class II gaming machines that the NIGC is working on with a panel of tribal representatives.

His opinion is that these standards will reduce litigation and provide more stability for the tribes, vendors and the overall industry. [That's exactly what some former Clinton administration officials thought years ago. But has anything really changed?] Westrin, a former state gaming regulator, came armed with specific examples of how standards made gaming a success in Michigan.

But not everyone agreed that the NIGC is on the right track. A tribal lawyer and one tribal gaming commissioner questioned him on the proposed standards, saying they didn't seem too stable for the tribes.

Views on Class II
If you go to California, you will hear customers and tribal leaders say how unattractive Class II gaming is. They'd rather have the real thing -- slot machines.

But in other states where Class II is the only thing in town, you have to go with what you know. [You can't go with what's legal because no one knows yet.] Which brings us to Charlie Lombardo, a casino manager for Seminole Tribe of Florida and a member of NIGC's gaming definitions committee.

At one panel, he relayed how his customers have enhanced the electronic Class II experience by de-enhancing the Class II machines. What do these customers do? They bring in their own pieces of cardboard to cover up the bingo card on the machines because they want to be "surprised" by the outcome.

Then there's Stan Hubbard, the gaming director of Victoryland Dog Track in Alabama, another Class II-only state. [Ask Ralph Reed about that one.] "Our customers love class II games like Peas and Carrots" he said at one panel. [Was that an endorsement of Class II games? It was hard to tell. The dog track operates MGAM (Multimedia) machines, by the way.]

What About the Tribes?
Remember that lady on the Simpsons who always asks "What about the children?" at every inopportune moment? Well at every Indian conference, there's always someone who does that for tribes.

This time it was Judy Shapiro, an attorney who represents tribes. She questioned Westrin [see above] about the proposed NIGC technical definitions. Unlike Westrin, her view was that the standards are going to take away games from the tribes that they can currently operate. She didn't say which games, which leads us to...

More Views on Class II
It turns out that an electronic bingo machine is a much more difficult game, technology-wise, to program than a slot machine. Unfortunately, this difficulty doesn't necessarily translate into more revenue for tribes.

Or playability for customers for that matter. Still, several panelists were very interested in the technology behind the games, hoping that it would allow for the creation of more complex machines. The thinking was that these games would "convince" the customer to stay longer at the Class II terminal.

The jury is still out on that one. [This is Las Vegas, remember?] And that ends our favorite moments on Day 1 of G2E! Tune in later for more.

Live from G2E: Day 1