Law Article: NIGC changes stance on one-touch bingo system

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) defines Class II bingo as a game, played electronically or otherwise, (1) for prizes, including money prizes, (2) in which the player "covers" numbers to match numbers "drawn" by the system, and (3) in which the game is won by the first person to cover an arrangement of numbers. Existing Class II electronic bingo machines require two button presses: one to "cover" the numbers and another to wager and play. In 2008, NIGC disapproved a tribal gaming ordinance incorporating one-touch bingo into its definition of Class II gaming. The disapproval concluded that because players did not participate and compete with each other in the game by taking a separate step to "cover" the numbers on virtual bingo cards, the game was a Class III electronic facsimile of a game of chance.

The newly proposed rule "reinterprets" IGRA to state that one-touch bingo satisfies IGRA's definition of Class II bingo, even though the "covering" and drawing happen virtually simultaneously and more than one player can win: "Whether a player presses a button one time or two, the player is engaging with the machine, participating in the bingo game, and competing with fellow players on the electronically linked bingo system." The proposal emphasizes that one-touch bingo incorporates the "fundamental aspect" of bingo: competing with other bingo players for a prize. Because one-touch gaming requires only one button press, the experience of electronic bingo will be closer to Class III electronic gaming devices, in which players need only press one button to place a wager and set the electronic reels spinning.