September 3,2009 

Via electronic mail: rdowdG!shes~nin~svstms.com 

fax: 5 19-3 5 1-6627 

and First Class mail 

Robert Dolvd, President 

The Second Bytc 

438 McNaughton Avrmue West 

Chatham, Ontario N7L 453 

CANADA 

Re: Fast Track Bingo advisory gamc classification opinion 

This letter responds to your March 1 9.2003 request for an advisory opinion on 

the classification of Second Byte's (SB) bingo game called "Fast Track Bingo (FTB)." I 

apologize for the delay in the response. As you arc aware. for a lengthy paiod of time, 

the National Indian Gaming Commission (N IGC) anticipated that it would issue new 

regulations for classifying games. hn fact, NIGC published, and republished, proposed 

classification regulations, and during this period, individual classification opinions like 

this one were held in anticipation of-the new mles. However, the proposed regdations 

became the topic of controversy arid were ultimately withdrawn. Since you advise that 

you remain interested in whether FTB is a CIass I1 game, I am now happy to address d~e 

issue. Based on a review by the Office of General Counsel of the information you have 

supplied, it is zny opinion that FTR is a technologic aid to the play of bingo and, 

therefore, CIass I1 as the term is used in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (TGRA) and 

NIGC replations. 

System Description 

FTB is an electromechanical gaming system for facilitating the operation of bingo 

that is designed to be an alternative to full electronic bingo. The clcctronics of the system, 

an advantage for bingo operators. wiII verify winners and automatically track game 

transactions such as games bought, floor attendant sales, prize calculation, cards played, 

and prizes won. 

Each FTB unit is connected to a power supply and server where information is 

collected for reporting from the player stations. Portable, wirelcss devices used by the 

operator's staff also record information on selling game credits, cashing players out and 

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paying winnings and send this infomation to the server. Another server supports large 

LCD telcvisions for game display. Tlre system can he used to play any bingo game 

ordinariIy played in a bingo hall. 

Game Play 

The player chooses to sit at a station. There arc three electromechanical cards 

available to play on a mounted unit at each station. Tl~c cards cannot be changed: the 

player must accept them or select a different station. 

11.1 order to play, a patron must first purchase credits from a fluor attendant. The 

attendant carries a portable clectmnic device that records the sale and wirelessly loads the 

credits onto tlze player9s station. This component of the systcrn is a hand-held portable 

authorizing rlevicc or PAD, and the attendants also use it to redeem credits for cash and 

pay winnings. The players do not direct] y interact with or cven touch the PAD. Rather, 

the amount of thc credit authorizecl at a player station will be visible to the pIayer in a 

LCD display. 

To enter a game after purchasing credits, the patron uses a wlzite "plus" button 

and a white "minus" button on the station to adjust the credits he or she is willing to 

wager in any one game. Once a gamc begins, a player may not change a bet, Thc only 

buttons available to a player during the gamc are a pccn 'help" hutton and a red "bingo" 

caiI button. 

The pah-on will play one or more of the thee standard 5 x 5 bingo cards that are 

FleId in an casil y vicwcd position in a lighted card holder, which would seem to make 

viewing easier. As numbers are drawn fkom a traditional bingo blower, the player must 

daub each number on the cards by pl~ysical ly closing a shutter aver the number called. At 

the end of the game, the player simply moves the covering shutter back in its retreat 

position to set up for the next game. 

There arc no electronic means cmployed to daub numbers in this system. In that 

regad, the system is not essentiaIty different from a hand-dauhecl paper card. The system 

replaces the ~novement of a I~and daub with a quick slide to move a shutter over a called 

number. When a player wins, I.te or she prcsscs the red button at the station playcr to 

announce bingo (and this inay be accompanied by thc traditional shout of "BINGO!"). 

Pressing the hutton informs the ball caller that a playcr has a win and initiates a11 

electronic verification of the win. 

Analysis 

lGRA defines Class 11 gamins, in relevant part as: 

(i) the game of chnrlcc cornmonly known as bingo (whether or not electronic, 

computer, nr other technologic aids arc used in connection therewith) - 
(I) which is played for prizes, including monetary prizes, with cards 

bearing numbers or other designations, 

(11) in which the holder of the card covers such numbers or 

designations when objects, similarly numbered or designated, are 

drawn or clcctmnicalEy determined, and 

(111) in which the game is won by tl-tc first person covering a 

previously designated arrangement of numbers or designations on such 

cards, including (if played in the same location) pull tabs, lotto, punch 

hoards, tip jars, instant bingo, and other games similar te bingo.. .. 

25 U.S.C. I$ 2703(7)(A)(i)(I)-(III). The FTB equipment is designed for fast, wsy 

bingo play and meets all three criteria. 

First. games played on FTB are played for prizes on cards hearing 

numbers. A~ain. FTB places thrce 5 x 5 electromecl~anical bingo cads at cach 

player station. FTB does not employ paper cards. 

Second, as the caller calls numbers, a player "daubs" his or her cards by 

sIidin~ the mechanical shutters and covering any numbers on the cards that match. 

Rircl and finally, players co~npete to win prizes by being thc first person 

to covcr a previously designated arrangement of nurnbcrs. FTB, Iike traditional 

bingo, requires a minimum of YO players for a game to begin. Additional players 

entcr the gamc if they request participation before the first hall is drawn. The first 

player to match a previously designated pattern must press the red button at the 

player station to declare bingo and claim the winning prize. 

As bingo played on FTB meets IGRA's criteria for Class I1 hingo, the onIy 

qucstian remaining tor its classification is whether FTB is a fcchnologic aid to the 

play of bingo or a, fficsimil~ of bingo as those terns are used in EGRA. If the 

former, FTB is Class 11; if the latter, it is Class III. It is my opinion that FTB is a 

technologic aid. 

N IGC's regulations define .clccrronic. comptt trr or otl~er tecJrnoiogic aid, 

in reIevant part, as any machine or device that: 

(1 ) Assists a player or the playing of a game: 

(2) Is not an electronic or electromechanical facsimile; and 

(3) Is operatcd in accordance with applicable Federal com~nunications 

law. 

25 C.F.R. 3 502.7. FTR meets the first and third requirements. 
FTR satisfies the first requirement becousc it not only assists the pIayer in playing 

bingo, it assists the operator as well. It lights the bingo cards making them ensjly visiblc; 

its shutters make numbers easy to cover: and the prcss of a button allows players to set 

wagers, get assistance, and declare bingo. For the operator, FTB allows for accurate 

accountii~g of bingo by automating all purchases and payouts, and it helps ensure fairness 

by electronically verifying a13 wins. 

Likewise, FTB satisfies the third eIecment. meeting FCC requircrnents when 

operated. Nothing in the documentation provided indicates FTB uses anything other than 

standard wireless cornmunicntions. It is therefore reasonable to prcsume it satisfies FCC 

requirements for radio emissions. 

In order to be a tccImologic aid, then. FTB cannot be an electronic or 

eIectmmechanica1 facsimile of a game of chance, whicll IGRA rnakes Class 111. The term 

Class II gnming "does not include . . . electronic cr eEectromcchanical facsimiles of any 

game of chance," 25 U.S.C. Q2783(7)(B)(ii), and IGRA defines as Class IEI all games that 

are not Class I (which refers to traditional and ceremonial games not relevant here, 25 

U.S.C. 6 270366)) or Class IT. 25 U.S.C. 

6 2703(8$ 

The Commission's regulations define elecrronic or el~ctromec~ranical+fncsin~ile, 

in relevant part, as "a game played in an electronic or dectrom~chanical format that 

replicates a game of chance by incorporating all of the characteristics of the game ...." 25 

C.F.R. 4 502.8. Courts have adopted a plain meaning interpretation of the term.fncsimik 

and recognize a facsimile as a game that electronically replicates the characteristics of the 

underlying game. Svntan Band qfMission indim~s 17. Ronche. 54 F.3d 535. 542 (9"' Cir. 

1994) ("the first dictionary definition of 'facsimile' is 'an exact and detailed copy of 

something"'), cerr. denied, 5 1 6 U.S .9 1 2 ( 1 995); Cnbazon Rand qf Mission Indians 1. 

Nationnl lndinn Gaming Commission, I4 F.3d 633, 636 (D.C. Cis. 1994)("[a]s commonIy 

understood, facsimiles are exact copies, or duplicates"). 

For example, ~vctlnn reviewed a wholly electronic pull tab game, onc in which 

the player bought and played pull tabs generated by computer and dispIayed an a video 

scrcen. The Ninth Circuit concluded that this was an exact, self-contained copy of paper 

pull tabs and thus an elcctro~ljc facsimile. IGRA's "exclusion of electronic facsimiles 

removes games from the class I1 category when those games are whoIly incorporated into 

an electronic or electromechanical version." ,!&c~rfln at 543-43. Accord Cnhrna?~, 14 F.3d 

at 636. 

By contrast. in Dinrnoud Gonlc I?. Reno, 230 F.3d 365 (D.C. Cir. 2000). the 

machine in question, the Lucky Tab II, sold and dispensed paper pull tabs from a roII. 

VIC machine also rcad and displayed the results of each tab. presenting thosc results in 

such n way as to rcsernhlc a three-reel slot machine. Nonetl~eless, the paper tabs could be 

playcd and redeemed manually. The D.C. Circuit held, therefore, that thc Lucky Tab IT 

dispenscr was not an electronic facsimile containing af I characteristics of pull tabs and 

thus was not a Class III device, no matter how many bells and whist1 es it might have. The 
"game is in the paper rolls." thc court held, and the Lucky Tah 11 is "little more tl~an n 

high-tech dealer." Id. at 370. 

Considering FTB as a whole, tl~c system does not ~eplicate bingo by incorporating 

all of the cl~aracteristics of the game into an efectmnic or clecttornecl~anical form. 

Essential fcntures of bingo are not made electronic. The hall is still manually drawn by a 

hall caller; the player must stilI cover his or her nurnbcrs by hand and move a shutter 

across a number: and thc player must push the red button to call "Bingo." Accortlingly, 

FTB is not a facsimile of a game of cl~ancc. It is a technologic aid. 

Conclusion 

Given all of the foregoing, it is my opinion that Fast Track Bin20 is a Class 11 

game played with a technologic aid within the mcaning of the Indian Gaming Regulatory 

Act. This opinion applics to the version of the game presented and will not apply if the 

game is modified with new or different features not considered in this subrni ttal or iff ~e 

game is operated or played in a manner inconsistent wit11 the manner described in this 

opinion. The features discussed in this opinion, along with thc manner and sequence of 

events in game play? are integral to this opinion. Finally, E note that as a technologic aid 

to a Class J I game, before Fast Track Bingo may be offered for use in a tribal casino. it 

must be tested for complia~~ce with the requiremmts of NIGC's Technical StancIards, 25 

C.F.R. part 547, by an independent testing laboratory and approved for use by the 

relevant tribal gming commission. 

Please address any questions about this opinion to Michael Gross, Associate 

General Counscl. General Law. at 202-632-7039. 

Sincerely, 

Penny J. Coleman 

Acting General Counsel