Vegas-style machines, which are covered by the state-tribal gaming agreement, use random numbers. In bingo games, players play against a pool of other players. The approval applies specifically to mobile games that are bingo at their core, which is an important distinction as federal law allows tribes to operate such games without sign-on from state governments, state approval, or oversight. Last October, federal regulators gave a go-ahead to the Chickasaw Nation to offer mobile gaming on its Oklahoma reservation. The Chickasaw Nation’s gaming operation is one of the largest in the state with over a dozen casinos, and this launch could give the tribe an early foothold in the fast-growing mobile gaming world. The introduction of the app to the state could see the expansion further down the line to the tribe’s other casinos or across its reservation, which stretches from the Red River to the outskirts of Norman. The betting app’s release comes despite most forms of online wagering not yet being legal in Oklahoma. The app will take and pay out real money, a change from phone games where no cash changes hands. Southern Oklahoma's Chickasaw Nation has launched a mobile gaming app exclusively for the Winstar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, the tribe’s largest gaming hub near the Oklahoma-Texas line.
