Indian Stick Game, otherwise called Hand Game, Bone Game or Sal-hal is an intuitive indigenous sport that is highly popular throughout Native American Tribes and Canadian First Nations and played between competing teams in both single events and tournament competitions. Newgioco's Elys betting platform executed bets, managed risk and payouts, and provided full live support for cage staff for the Northern Winz Christmas Hand Games Tournament held on Saturday, December 21, 2019.
The all-star teams included Shady Cree from Salish Chippewa-Cree Tribe in Washington State, Janice Meyers from Rocky Boy Chippewa-Cree Tribe in Montana, Dexter Falls Down from Crow Tribe in Montana and Brandon McKean from the Sho-ban Tribe in Fort Hall, Idaho. The teams were comprised of members from a variety of communities including Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Canada.
In the championship round, Shady Cree team from Salish Chippewa Cree prevailed over Janice Meyers from Chippewa-Cree Tribe. The event brought friends, family, elders and community together and was a huge success at Northern Winz Casino.
"In continuing to deliver on our commitment to provide full service, turn-key sports betting solutions for both our tribal and non-tribal clients, Newgioco once again partnered with Northern Winz Casino in Montana to produce event lines and odds on both the "Kick Stick" (i.e. analogous to coin-toss) as well as the tournament brackets through to the championship round," commented Michele (Mike) Ciavarella, Newgioco Chief Executive Officer. "We are quite focused on respecting cultural nuances of Native American traditions in being a trusted and recognised service provider for tribal casinos in the U.S. and expect the further development of Class 1 indigenous sports betting products and expansion of offerings in tribal and non-tribal casinos to continue throughout 2020."
"We are very happy and excited to have made history again with the outstanding support and dedication that Newgioco provided to make our Winz XMass Hand Game Tournament a memorable success," stated Raymond "Jazz" Parker General Manager of the Northern Winz Casino on Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana. "The event was awesome with everyone including our elders having a great deal of fun. We will continue to push our sovereignty through Class 1 gaming by offering a safe and responsible environment for our members to place bets on traditional tribal games and events that have been around for hundreds of years. This was one of the founding principles written in the IGRA but has been largely overlooked and under-considered. The Newgioco team played an integral role by quickly customizing the games as the events unfolded throughout the evening with the betting platform working flawlessly with our cage staff. We definitely look forward to working with Newgioco on our future initiatives."
