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6 

YSLETA DEL SUR PUEBLO v. TEXAS 

Opinion of the Court 

gaming laws and regulations” would “operate as surrogate
federal  law  on  the  Tribe’s  reservation.”    Ysleta  del  Sur 
Pueblo v. Texas, 36 F. 3d 1325, 1326, 1334 (1994) (Ysleta I).
A  quarter  century  of  confusion  and  litigation  followed. 
Repeatedly, the Tribe sought to conduct gaming operations 
within the confines of Ysleta I at its Speaking Rock Enter-
tainment Center, which houses restaurants, bars, and con-
cert venues.  Repeatedly, Texas argued that the Tribe’s ac-
tivities exceeded the Fifth Circuit’s mandate.  Faced with 
these disputes, lower courts experimented with a variety of
approaches:  enjoining all on-reservation gaming, instruct-
ing  the  Tribe  to  seek  licenses  from  Texas  regulators,  and
even requiring the Tribe to obtain preapproval from a fed-
eral court before offering any new gaming operations.  One 
court described this process as having “transformed [it] into
a quasi-regulatory body overseeing and monitoring the mi-
nutiae  of  the  [Tribe’s]  gaming-related  conduct.”    Texas  v. 
Ysleta  del  Sur  Pueblo,  2016  WL  3039991,  *19  (WD  Tex., 
May 27, 2016). 

D 
The  current  case  represents  just  the  latest  in  this  long
line.  In 2016, the Tribe began offering bingo.  On its view, 
it was free to offer at least this game because IGRA treats 
bingo  as  a  class  II  game  for  which  no  state  permission  is
required so long as the State permits the game to be played 
on  some  terms  by  some  persons. 
  See  25  U. S. C. 
§ 2710(b)(1)(A).    Citing  IGRA,  the  Tribe  did  not  just  offer 
the sort of bingo played in church halls across the country.
It also offered “electronic bingo,” a game in which patrons 
sit at “machines [that] look similar to a traditional slot ma-
chine.”  2019  WL  639971,  *5  (internal  quotation  marks 
omitted).  Unlike typical slot machines, however, “the un-
derlying game is run using historical bingo draws.”  Ibid. 

The State responded by seeking to shut down all of the 
Tribe’s bingo operations.  Whatever IGRA may allow, Texas