Spirit of Sovereignty Slot Tournaments raise $24,000 for native youth

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The Spirit of Sovereignty Slot Tournaments held 29 March during the 2023 Indian Gaming Tradeshow and Convention in San Diego raised $24,000 for native youth. Indian Gaming Association (IGA) Chairman Ernie Stevens, Jr. in partnership with IGT hosted the events.

The Spirit of Sovereignty will direct the winnings of the top three finishers to tribal college scholarships and reservation-based youth programming.

Contestants competed on IGT’s Cleopatra TournXtreme slot game. Paul Gordon, Rymax Senior Vice-President of Sales, played in all five Spirit of Sovereignty Slot Tournaments, and this year placed first in the annual high-energy race of the reels. Legendary KISS band member Gene Simmons played on behalf of Chairman Stevens and finished in second place. Douglas Vogelei, Senior Vice President of Casino Operations at Sycuan Casino Resort came in third.

In addition, IGT made another generous donation of $10,000 in support of tribal college scholarships.

“The turnout was incredible! Each year exceeds our expectations, and we look forward to building on the momentum at the next show,” said Spirit of Sovereignty Liaison David Garelick. “We so appreciate the generosity of our players and sponsors. We are grateful to all who participated – newcomers and multi-year supporters like Paul Gordon alike – but we need to give special thanks to Chairman Stevens and our friends at IGT, who have been so generously supportive of the Spirit of Sovereignty. We also want to thank the good folks at Clarion Events for their marketing and logistics assistance.”