The article addresees one of my favorite areas of the law - sovereign immunity. In the U.S., federally recognized tribes are treated as independent nations and cannot be sued unless they consent, or unless Congress grants that right. I have seen cases where companies have helped tribes get federal approval with the promise that the company would be allowed to manage the casino under a lucrative contract, the tribe gets its recognition, the tribe fires the company, and the company cannot sue.

Gamblers have to be careful because they have far fewer bargaining chips than companies, and can easily be frozen out of court because of immunity. So even if the gambler is 100% right - and even if the tribe admits it - the tribe will generally be immune from suit.

Lawyers practicing in this field know that they have to check treaties and Congressional enactments carefully, and also check whether a tribe may have waived its immunity in its contracts or in its gaming compacts. Nonetheless, this is a tricky area of the law.

Add to it the fact that even if a gambler could sue, if a machine malfunctions, gaming laws and posted notices usually provide that the wager is void.

If this happens to you, consider taking the $2500 payout the tribe offers! In a few months, the man in the article may wish he had done so. But, then again, he is a gambler.