May 24,2007 

Via electronic mail 

Ms. Christy Long 

langsh~t@.bres~an~n~a 

Re: Shake-a-day pools and sports boards, game classifications 

Dear Ms. Long: 

Our webmaster has forwarded to me your December 3,2006, e-mail (below) asking 

about the classification of shake-a-day pools and sports boards. I apologize for the delay 

in my reply. While I understand that these games need not be banked by the house - 

and I certainly understand the loss of business caused by the recent expiration of the 

Class I11 tribal-state gaming compact for the Flathead Reservation - it is nevertheless 

the opinion of this office that shake-a-day and sports boards are Class I11 games under 

the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). The National Indian Gaming Commission's 

(NIGC's) regulations identify them as such, as did the now-expired Class I11 compact 

between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) and the state of 

Montana. Further, neither game meets the definition of a Class I or Class I1 game, and 

IGRA defines all games that are not Class I or Class I1 as Class 111. Accordingly, whether 

or not they are house banked, shake-a-day and sports boards are Class I11 games that 

may not be played in the absence of a tribal-state gaming compact approved by the 

Secretary of the Interior. 

Background - shake-a-day and sports boards 

Shake-a-day is a dice game. Rolling - "shaking" - a winning combination on poker dice 

entitles a player to all or part of a pool of wagers. The Montana statutes, for example, 

define shake-a-day as a game: 

in which a customer may once each day pay an amount of money 

predetermined by the establishment, but not more than 50 cents, and 

shake a number of dice predetermined by the establishment in an 

attempt to roll certain combinations simulating poker hands 

predetermined by the establishment. If one of the combinations is rolled, 

the customer may win merchandise or a portion or all of the money paid 

to play the game since the last winning combination was rolled. 'I'he 

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS 1441 L St. NW, Suite 9100, Washington, DC 20005 Tel: 202.632.7003 Fax: 202.632.:7066 WWW.NIGC.GOV 

REGIONAL OFFICES Portland, OR; Sacramento, CA; Phoenix, AZ; St. Paul, MN;Tulsa. OK 
Ms. Long, p. 2 

establishment may, before a game begins, limit the amount that will be 

won and use the remaining money played on that game to start the pot for 

the next game, thus enhancing the incentive to play the next game in the 

early stages of the next game. All money paid to play games must be paid 

out as winnings. An establishment may offer to the public more than one 

Shake-a-day game at any given time. 

Mont. Code Ann., 9 23-5-160(b). 

Sports boards is, reduced to its essence, a form of sports betting. In a typical game, 

players pay to enter a pool, and they pick, or are assigned, a square on a grid. Each 

square contains a unique pair of single-digit numbers. A player wins all or part of the 

pool if his or her numbers match the last digits of the score for a given sporting event at a 

given time, say at halftime or at the end of the game. The now-expired CSKT-Montana 

compact described the game as follows: 

a "traditional sports pool" involving a single sports event with two 

competitors that is conducted on a sports pool card containing a master 

square with 25,50, or 100 spaces. Each space is randomly assigned a 

unique pair of numbers from the vertical and horizontal axis of the master 

square. A winner is determined by matching the numbers assigned to a 

space with the only or last digit of the score of each competitor in the 

sports event at predetermined intervals during the event or at the end of 

the event. 

CKST-Montana compact, Appendix I, 8 VII, q[ 3(a). There are a number of variations on 

this theme, such as assigning multiple pairs of numbers to a square or using the same 

grid for multiple games, but the essence of each variation is the same: players are 

wagering on the outcome of sporting events. CSKT-Montana compact, Appendix I, 9 VII. 

Analysis 

Both shake-a-day and sports boards are Class I11 games. NIGC's regulations identify 

them as such. Craps or other casino dice games are specifically named as examples of 

Class I11 games, 25 C.F.R. 8 502.4(a)(2), as is sports betting, 25 C.F.R. 8 502.4(c). The 

games are also specifically identified as Class I11 in the recently expired compact. CKSTMontana Compact, 9 I11 and 9 V, ¶¶ G, I. The terms of IGRA also lead to the same 

conclusion. 

As you know, IGRA divides the world of Indian gaming into three classes. It defines 

Class I games as "social games" played "solely for prizes of minimal value or traditional 

forms of Indian gaming engaged in by individuals as a part of, or in connection with, 

tribal ceremonies or celebrations." 25 U.S.C. 9 2703(6). By definition, Class I games are 

not at issue here. 

IGRA defines as Class I1 only a narrow band of games: bingo; pull tabs, punch boards, 

tip jars, instant bingo, and other games similar to bingo, but only if they are played in the 
Ms. Long, p. 3 

same location as bingo; and certain non-banked card games. 25 U.S.C. 5 703(7)(A)(i)-(ii). 

All other games are Class 111.25 U.S.C. 9 2703(8). 

Dice games and sports betting - shake-a-day and sports boards - are not, by definition, 

bingo, nor are they pull tabs, punch boards, etc. They are, therefore, neither Class I nor 

Class I1 games and thus must be Class 111. 

This result does not change even if shake-a-day and sports boards are not house banked 

games, which I will assume is true for the purposes of this letter. Under IGRA and the 

NIGC's regulations, house banking only distinguishes Class I1 from Class I11 in two 

specific situations. 

One is the classification of card games. IGRA defines non-house banked card games as 

Class 11, if they meet certain other conditions having to do with state card-game laws. 25 

U.S.C. 9 2703(7)(A)(ii). If a card game is house banked, however, it is always Class 111. 

25 U.S.C. 4 2703(7)(B)(i)('"'l'he term 'class I1 gaming' does not include . . . any banking 

card games, including baccarat, chemin de fer, or blackjack (21). . ."). 

The other situation is the classification of games similar to bingo. Such games, variants of 

bingo, are Class I11 if they are house banked and Class I1 if they are not. 25 C.F.R. 

5 502.9 ("Other games similar to bingo means any game played in the same location as 

bingo . . . constituting a variant on the game of bingo, provided that such game is not 

house banked . . ."). 

Outside of these two situations, house banking does not determine whether a game is 

Class I1 or Class 111. That classification, ultimately, must follow the definitions given in 

IGRA. Here, again, it is the opinion of this office that shake-a-day and sports boards are 

not Class I or Class 11. They are, therefore, Class I11 and are properly identified as such 

in NIGC's regulations. 

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Michael Gross, Associate 

General Counsel, at 202-632-7003. 

Sincerely, 

Penny J. &]eman 

Acting General Counsel 

cc: John Peterson, Region IV Director 

Michael Gross, Associate General Counsel 

Jennifer Ward, Staff Attorney.