In the United States the Indian tribal lands, or reservations, are considered to be sovereign nations. As such, they are not always subject to the same laws. A 1976 Supreme Court ruling that state laws did not apply to reservations. This and other rulings led to the 1988 Indian Regulatory Act that resulted in internet gambling being legal on the reservations. As a result, there are casinos on Indian reservations throughout the country. Gambling is a source of revenue for the Indian nations who need revenues like any other government needs revenues to function.

Indian casinos can be Class I, Class II or Class III.  This refers to what casino games they can offer. Class I involve running social games for prizes and do not include gambling games. Class II provisions allow games like bingo and lottery.  Class III provides for full casino games. Most of the larger Indian casinos are in this category. They offer everything that the Las Vegas casinos offer. They are regulated by the free bingo gaming commission as to what they can and can’t do. These are rules that have to be strictly adhered to.

The major difference between the Indian casinos and the Las Vegas casinos has to do with the reporting.  Both have to file numerous reports with the gaming commissions, but in many cases, the Indian casino’s information is not released to the public. This is data like payout percentages. Aside from this, there is no difference to the customer between the Indian casinos and the Las Vegas casinos.