More and more gaming tribes are launching free-play gaming sites to attract social gamers with the goal of eventually bringing them into the brick and mortar casinos.
Earlier this month Pala Casino Spa and Resort announced its MyPalaCasino social site, offering free play slots, blackjack, roulette, video poker and others.
The most recent is the Prairie Island Indian Community of Minnesota, which announced a partnership with Greentube, which provides i-gaming solutions. Greentube will create a social casino platform that will be deployed early next year.
Prairie Island Tribal Council President Shelley Buck commented, “The new online gaming platform we’re rolling out early next year includes an unparalleled user experience that engages players with our brand on and off the casino floor, amplifying our social impact and reach.”
MyPalaCasino can be accessed on a website, Facebook, and on Smartphones. Pala Casino also maintains a real-money online casino through Pala Interactive that is based in New Jersey.
Free play is just that: no money changes hands. However, players can earn points that they can use at the physical casino’s loyalty program. It also helps the casino build up player databases and access player demographics.
Pechanga Resort & Casino in Southern California beat Pala to the punch with its social gaming partnership with Ruby Stevens Studios earlier this year. Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro told Indian Country Today the ultimate goal is a real money online casino and that the social media is “just the first step in that long-term initiative.”
Casino Del Sol, operated by the Pascua Yaqui tribe of Arizona, became the first gaming tribe to offer social gaming with its DoubleDown system in 2010. It is currently the world’s largest virtual casino.
The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, which operates two brick and mortar casinos in the state, has announced that it will begin offering real money play this winter through PokerTribe.com. It will become the first tribe in the state to have an international gaming site with cash payouts.
Other tribes that have gotten into the game include the Kumeyaay Nation of Campo, California, which owns the Golden Acorn Casino & Travel Center and Chickasaw Nation, which in April partnered with UK-based GAN to build a social gaming platform.
