Darrell Wadena, chairman 

White Earth Tribe 

P.O. Box 418 

White Earth, Mn. 56591 

Dear Mr. Wadena: 

You sought our views on the sale of pulltabs in the fifteen 

facilities described in your September 15, 1994, letter. We 

conclude that pulltabs may be sold as Class I1 games during all 

hours of operation of the VFW and American Legion under the 

circumstances described in your August 5 and September 14 

letters. Under the present circumstances, the remaining thirteen 

facilities, however, may only sell pulltabs during the hours that 

bingo is being played in the operation unless the pulltab sales 

are authorized under a Class I11 gaming compact. 

BACKGROUND ' MU!!l ' 

According to the information provided by you and your 

representatives, pulltabs were being played on the White Earth 

Reservation at 15 facilities other than the Tribe's bingo hall. 

The facilities vary widely to include five gas station 

convenience stores, a small grocery store, a liquor store, two 

small resorts, a bar, two restaurants, the VFW, American Legion 

and the tribal administrative office. 

To eliminate questions by the United States Attorney about the 

legality of stand alone pulltab operations, the ~ribe instituted 

bingo games which are played approximately weekly at each of the 

facilities. Tribal employees travel to each location to conduct 

the bingo games. The number of games played ranges from one to 

24 and the number of patrons playing ranges from one to 49. Some 

of the locations have substantial seating capacity. The vast 

majority of the facilities have limited seating capacity and on 

average, only two games are played with two players. The five 

convenience stores, have limited space with room for bingo 

primarily limited to counter space. One hour is scheduled for 

the play of bingo (and, in some instances, the transportation of 

the bingo team to the next facility) at 13 of the facilities. 

The VFW and the American Legion have weekly evenings of bingo 

with a substantial number of games played, 17 - 24, with a 

substantial number of players, 13 - 28. 
For the sale of pulltabs, the employees of the business act as 

agents of the Tribe. Such employees are investigated and 

licensed under the Tribe's Class 11 gaming ordinance. The 

businesses are paid for their services and use of the space 

through separate bingo and pulltab leases based on square 

footage. The Tribe receives 100% of the revenue which it 

distributes to tribal government programs and charities. 

In an October 13, 1994, meeting with the NIGC, the Tribe 

suggested a standard for pulltab operations under the Indian 

Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA or Act) that precludes the Class I1 

pulltab operation at 11 of the 15 facilities. The Tribe believes 

that the emphasis should be on the ownership of the games and 

that only a minimum number of players should be required. 

Therefore, the Tribe suggested that IGRA should be interpreted to 

require that the facilities be tribally owned and operated and 

that the bingo operation should have a minimum of five players to 

be legitimate. Ziowever, in the statement of facts provided in 

Mr. August 5, 1994, letter, five of the facilities 

have never had five players and six facilities have had five or 

more players only once or twice. Consequently, under the Tribe's 

proposed interpretation, with a minimum of five players, only 

four facilities would qualify as class 11 pulltab operations. 

DISCUSSION 

Implicit in IGRn and its legislative history is the requirement 

that bingo must be played regularly in a facility which can 

accommodate a sufficiently substantial number of players and 

games to establish that pulltabs remains a subgame of the bingo 

enterprise. IGRA defines Class I1 gaming as "the.game of chance 

commonly known as bingo . . . including (if played at the same 

location) pull-tabs . . . . 25 U. S. C. S 2703 (7) (A) (i) . While 

it is clear from this language that bingo and pulltabs must be 

played in the same facility, nothing in the Act establishes an 

explicit standard by which we can determine whether bingo is 

being played regularly in a facility sufficient to accommodate 

the players. 

Although the legislative history on this provision is limited, it 

provides a general standard for determining whether a pulltab 

operation and bingo operation are being played at the same 

location. The Senate Report states that: 

Section (4)(8)(A) also makes clear the Committee's 

intent that pull-tabs, punch boards, tip jars, instant 

bingo and similar subgames may be played as integral 

parts of bingo enterprises regulated by the act and, as 

opposed to free standing enterprises of these subgames, state regulatory laws are not applicable to such 

subgames, just as they are not applicable to Indian 

bingo. 
S. Rep. No. 446, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. 9 (Aug. 3, 1988). 

-- Therefore, to be a Class I1 game, the pulltab operations must 

remain subgames which are integral to the bingo operation and not 

free standing operations. 

To be integral, the gaming operation must be primarily a bingo 

operation with pulltabs as a subgame of the bingo operation. 

Thus, a full evening or afternoon of bingo must be conducted on a 

regular basis. The facility must be configured so that it may 

seat a substantial number of persons for bingo. Sufficient 

numbers of people must attend regularly so that the operation can 

be both a money making operation and entertainment for the bingo 

patrons. Without such minimal prerequisites, pulltabs become the 

primary operation with bingo as the subgame. 

Only two of the ~ribe's 15 facilities meet this minimal standard. 

The VFW and the American Legion both provide a weekly evening of 

bingo in a facility which can and does handle a small group of 

bingo patrons. Other facilities now engaging in limited bingo 

operations may be able to meet this standard with some changes in 

the Tribe's operation. Several, however, such as the liquor 

store and gas and convenience stores will never be able to 

establish a bingo operation with a pulltab subgame. Such 

facilities are simply not designed to accommodate groups of 

players and therefore can not even meet the common sense 

definition of a bingo location. 

Our conclusion does not prohibit the play of pulltabs at these 13 

facilities. The ~ribe can still sell pulltabs while bingo is in 

play which will assure that the pulltabs are subgame of the bingo 

operation. The Tribe can expand its bingo operation at some of 

the bigger facilities and can also negotiate with' the State of 

Minnesota over a gaming compact provision which authorizes sale 

of pulltabs. Thus, the Tribe has remaininq - options which - will 

allow it to sell pulltabs without operating outside the scope of 

IGRA. 

I hope that this guidance will prove useful to you. 

cc: Robert Small, AUSA 

Harry Baltzer, Exec. ~ir., Mn. ambling Control Board 

Peter W. Cannon for the Tribe 

James M. Schoessler for the Tribe