California’s Chicken Ranch Tribe Launches a Class II Betting Product

While Californian bettors voted against the legalization of tribal sports betting, one tribe has found a roundabout way to offer an online wagering product. The new solution is called Playbawk and is a Class II bingo-based, sports-themed betting app that circumvents the need for authorization.

Playbawk was launched by the Chicken Ranch Tribe of Me-Wuk Indians, which has been bullish on tapping into the growing popularity of sports betting. The app was designed in partnership with Vetnos and leverages its popular PlaySqor product.

While the Playbawk app has been designed with mobile devices in mind, it can only be used on Chicken Ranch’s reservation in California. The product allows players to experience a parlay pick’em game focused on individual athlete performances.

Players can select matchups and wager on a tic-tac-toe board. In each of the 9 matchups, players need to pick the player that will beat the other player’s handicapped score. Each matchup win is an X on the grid. The more cells a player fills in, the bigger the prize.

Since this concept does not allow people to directly place wagers on the outcome of sporting events, it is not considered to constitute a Class III product.

Players can wager between $1 and $20 and win back up to 32x their bet if they match all their cells correctly.

Playbawk Is a Game-Changer

The innovative product is the brainchild of Vetnos and is a “Class II proven” solution that allows tribal companies to circumvent certain restrictions. Since tribes don’t need permission to offer Class II gaming, PlaySqor allows them to launch wagering with a twist. In addition, the nature of Class II products means that the Chicken Ranch Tribe of Me-Wuk Indians will not have to pay a share of its revenue to California.

Lloyd Mathieson, the Chicken Ranch Tribe’s chairman, commented on the launch, saying that this innovative product would allow the people of California to “get their sports itch out of their system.”

Mathieson previously commented on Vetnos’ product, praising it for its visionary approach.

It’s the future. We know that the best thing that you can do is diversify. And what’s a better way to diversify into an offering than around something that you already know, which is gaming. Because it’s Class II, the tribes really have more control.

Lloyd Mathieson, chair, Chicken Ranch Tribe of Me-Wuk Indians

Mathieson is looking forward to expanding the app in California. Since only 33% of Californian voters voted in favor of allowing tribes to offer betting, Mathieson believes that Vetnos’ product is exactly what tribes would need.