Tribal leaders check out video slots and other gadgets at Indian gaming trade show

Wednesday, April 12, 2000 | 10:40 a.m.

Tracy Burris, a Chickasaw, came to the show to see what could be. Coming from bingo-only Oklahoma, he sees gamblers run to bordering states. If the Chickasaws and other tribes ever reach a compact with the state, Burris said attending this convention will put the tribe ahead of others.

"Full-scale gambling is always the goal, it's always something you strive for," Burris said. "If we reach that plateau, then we'll be one step ahead of everyone else. Most of the tribes have experience that and are willing to share their experiences."

With 3,000 tribal leaders and 450 vendors, the National Indian Gaming Associations Trade Show and Convention is the largest trade show in its $7.4 billion industry.

The gray Oregon Convention Center was transformed into a mini-casino, with video slots featuring little green men, "Betty Boop" and the "Addams Family." Lights flashed, bells rung and the music blurred into a hazy chime. The slots didn't pay on Tuesday, but they certainly will when tribal leaders bring them home.

Perhaps thinking gamblers will play anything, the leaders didn't seem interested in testing the new games.

"It's mostly the same every year," said James Duran, of the Taos Mountain Casino in New Mexico.

It was left to the vendors to create excitement.

"Each time you pull the lever you reach a heightened state of excitement, until you scream," said a Betty Boop impersonator, in her high-pitched squeal and five-inch heels.

Vendors say people like "theme" games, such as "fortune cookie," a slot in which the player presses on Chinese dishes rather than pull a lever.

"They're making the games a lot more entertaining," said John Judson, slot director for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Petoskey, Mich. "People feel they're getting more for their money."

At one of the many seminars held before the exhibit, Joe Kaminkow, a game designer from Reno told casino operators there are four keys to a good game: candy, cartoons, comic books and cuss words.

Kaminkow said cartoons and comic books are short bursts of fun and a good piece candy makes them keep coming back for more.

Cuss words?

"You want them to say 'Oh s---!," he said. "You want to empower the player to feel they are influencing the outcome and close to winning - and then feel that they chose wrong."

With many tribes getting rich, there must a lot of cussing going on.

But the money's not evenly spread. It's estimated that the largest 20 tribal casinos earn more than 50 percent of the industry's total revenues. Morning seminars mostly dealt with helping tribes make money by catching cheaters, lobbying politicians, improving customer service and maximizing food-and-beverage profits.

The gaming vendors comprised only a small portion of the 450 companies pitching their products to casinos and would-be casinos. Others sold keys, furniture, surveillance equipment, cocktail uniforms and basically anything needed to run a casino. Even the WXL, a little-known professional wrestling circuit, looked for casino gigs.

"Where there's gambling, there should be ATMs; you need to fuel the habit," said April Gardner of Bank of America, one of the many cash-machine companies here looking for the booming California tribal business. "But we're like bar owners, we want people to do it responsibly."