John A. Barrett, Jr. 

Tribal Chairman 

Citizen Potawatomi Nation 

1601 S. Gordon Cooper Dr. 

Shawnee, OK 74801 

Dear Chairman Barrett: 

During your visit to the NIGC on April 15,2003, you provided copies of rules for 

a blackjack tournament that could be played at variable prize levels and which envisioned 

two hands of play with the player holding the most tournament chips following those 

hands declared the winner. We voiced concern about whether the variable prize structure 

and the limited range of play constituted a tournament. You offered to revise the 

proposed format. 

Based on the revised description provided to us on May 14,2003, and discussions 

with William Grant of the NIGC staff, our view is that the new proposed tournament 

format can meet the requirements for Class I1 gaming under the Indian Gaming 

Regulatory Act and NIGC regulations. 

Description 

In the new proposed format, tournaments are to be held at different prize award 

levels. However, these prize award levels are fixed and will not vary based on the 

number of players participating in a particular tournament. You advise that a minimum 

of fifteen players will be required to start the tournament. Players will play at several 

tables depending on the number of players entered. Each player will begin with five 

tournament chips. These chips have no value outside of play in the particular tournament 

and may not be redeemed i3t the end of the tournament. Players may wager two or more 

tournament chips during any hand. Players compete against each other and not against 

the dealer who is there only to administer the tournament and distribute cards. Players 

continue to play in the init:ial round until only one player at each table can make the twochip minimum bet.' That player is declared the table winner and will advance to the 

--- 

'~lternativel~, the "head-to- head" competition at each table continues until there is no mathematical 

possibility of the playa with thc lesser chips winning the "head-to-head" competition by betting all the 

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John A. Barrett, Jr. 

Page 2 of 2 

championship round. In tllis round, the table winners will compete against each other in 

one or more hands using tlhe format describe above for the tournament prize. The players 

will remain at the table position with inter-table play facilitated by using closed circuit 

TV cameras and video scrleens. While the championship round is being played, a 

consolation game is also played by all players at the table for a minimum value prize, 

using the described format. You indicate that in tests of the game, the initial round 

averaged seven hands and the championship round averaged four hands. A copy of the 

format and rules you provided are attached to this letter. 

Requirements for Blackjack Tournament Play 

The legal basis for concluding that tournament blackjack play constitutes Class I1 

gaming in Oklahoma was set forth in advisory opinions from the NIGC7s Office of 

General Counsel in letters dated July 9, 1999, and January 15,2003. Each letter stressed 

the importance of bona fide tournament play as a condition to invoking an exception 

founded in Oklahoma law to the general prohibition of gambling card games. 

Discussion 

There are two important factors in the Nation's proposed format that lead to our 

conclusion that the tournament can be a Class 11 gaming activity. 

Competition amoqg players for a fixed prize. Because "tournament" is not 

defined in IGRA, i:n regulations of the NIGC, or in statutes of the State of 

Oklahoma, we rely on a common usage definition of the term. A tournament 

may be defined as ;a "a contest involving a number of competitors who vie against 

each other in a seri~es of elimination games or trials." (Webster's 11 New College 

Dictionary, 1995 .) The proposed format features an equalized starting point for 

tournament play. Each player at each tournament starts by paying a fixed fee and 

begins play with the same number of point-value chips. The players will stay in 

competition until they cannot longer play under the tournament rules and one 

table winner emerges. The table winners will then compete against each other. 

While we otherwise take the position that, until such time as the Commission 

establishes a differcmt number by formal rule, the play of 10 hands is the 

minimum number to make a single round of tournament play a "series" that 

would allow a demonstration of player abilities envisioned by tournament play, 

this proposed formiat provides for multiple rounds and a clear sense of 

competition among players. Winning in competition with other players is the 

condition to advancement to the final round. 

The design of the prize structure. Fixed prizes are awarded based on which player 

accumulates the most point-value chips during the tournament in the second 

chips he has on the next hand and the player with the most chips betting only two, including the lesser chip 

holder getting double pay on "Blackjack" split pairs, or double downs on 10 or 11. 
John A. Barrett, Jr. 

Page 3 of 3 

round of the tournament. The prize does not vary based either directly or 

indirectly on the number of point-value chips in the player's possession at the end 

of the toumament. The house is not paying the bet made by a player in the play 

of the hand and there is not otherwise direct compensation for success in a 

particular hand, or a limited number of hands, which disguise the payment of a bet 

by the house. The fixed prize structure also avoids the appearance that players are 

betting against eaclh other. 

Distinguishing the prize structure fiom a "money hunt" is potentially an issue in 

any blackjack tournament. In a "money hunt," players place equal wagers in a pot and 

the pot is paid to the winncx of the contest. The result may be determined entirely by 

chance or by some combination of skill and chance. "Money hunts" are gambling under 

Oklahoma law, and not considered to be within the statutory "tournament" exception 

discussed in our letters of .July 9, 1999, and January 15,2003.~ Nonetheless, the reality 

is that tournament sponsors routinely collect money fiom entry fees and, sooner or later, 

use a portion of money so collected to hd prizes. Money collected in this manner is 

income to the business, the prize an expense of the business. Thus, in some sense, the 

tournament participants ar~e always competing for a prize that is the result of their entry 

fees. To distinguish the prize awarded in a blackjack tournament, the prize must be preestablished and fixed in thse sense that it cannot vary based on the number of participants. 

Tournament blackjack p1a:yex-s cannot simply pool their entry fees, with the winner taking 

the pot. The fixed prize creates a clear break between the payment of entry fees and the 

prize, avoiding the "money hunt" problem. 

If, for marketing purposes, a tribe advertises tournaments in a manner that 

identifies that portion of th~e entry fee that will be expended for prizes, as opposed to the 

portion of an entry fee that: will be retained for administration and profit by the gaming 

operation, the actual charalcter of the game does not change. Thus, if a tribe decides it will 

use 90% of entry fees to pily for prizes and 10% for administration, it can advertise for 

example, "an entry fee of $1 1 1 of which 90% will be used to hd prizes" or "an entry 

fee of $1 00 and an adrninitstrative fee of $1 1 ." Because the prize has been predetermined, 

the players are not competing against each other for the pooled entry fees, and they are 

not engaged in betting against one another. 

The advice in this letter that the tournament format would meet the requirements 

for a Class I1 gaming activity is limited to the description set forth in the materials 

provided on May 14,2003, which is summarized above. A significant change to the 

format may result in a diffixent conclusion. 

2 See Oklahoma Attorney Geneiral Opinion 99-5 dated March 29, 1999 participants' entry fees held as a 

pool to be paid to the winner as a prize caused "money hunts" to be considered gambling. However, as a 

general matter, when a person or association sponsors or conducts contests for "purses, prizes, or 

premiums," and the moneys paid to such person or association for the right of participation become part of 

the person or association's general assets, and the "purses, prizes, or premiums" are paid out to contestants 

without regard to such contribulions, such activities will not be considered a '%et."] 
John A. Barrett, Jr 

Page 4 of 4 

Thank you, again, :for providing the tournament description for our review. 

Sincerely yours, 

Penny J. &man 

Acting General Counsel 

Enclosure