Margaret Dalton, chairwoman of the Jackson Rancheria in Northern California, said she recently saw the lottery game in action at Sierra Design and could not tell the difference between the device and a video slot. Unlike slot machines that pick random numbers, lottery games are connected to a central computer that continuously draws predetermined outcomes. A player enrolls by inserting money into the ongoing game. Winners and losers are determined by draws from the central computer, not the lottery terminal. Under federal law, tribes can play any game that is legal in the state, as long as they sign agreements with the governor.
Slot machines are illegal in California, and federal courts have upheld the ban.
But tribes can sign gambling pacts to use lottery games because voters approved their use through the California Lottery in 1984. As the games come online in Indian casinos, tribes will be able to adjust wager amounts and prizes, said Howard Dickstein, attorney for the Pala tribe. Sierra Design will test the lottery games in mid-October at the Table Mountain Rancheria in Fresno County, Jackson Rancheria in Amador County, Rumsey Rancheria in Yolo County and Barona Casino in San Diego County. All nine gaming tribes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties have refused to sign the Pala deal and have endorsed Prop. 5. A federal judge has told eight of the nine tribes they must unplug their video slots but has not issued a deadline.