Indian Casinos: Location, Location, Location

About half of California's 107 Indian tribes have casinos. For tribes considering gaming, location still matters most.

1 minute read

June 20, 2004, 1:00 PM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"California has 107 federally recognized tribes — more than any other state — but only half of them have casinos, and many of the state's tribes remain mired in poverty. Of the tribes that offer gambling, many operate small casinos. Only about 15 have the current legal limit of 2,000 slot machines... With annual gross revenue estimated at more than $5 billion, Indian casinos in California amount to about a third of the $14.5 billion brought in nationally by tribal gambling. California has a fourth of the nation's Indian casinos..." New agreements being consider by the Schwarzenegger administration would make it much more difficult "for smaller tribes to compete successfully. It also could prove prohibitive for established gambling tribes on California's outskirts, such as the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, a half-hour drive beyond some of Southern California's more profitable casinos."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Sunday, June 20, 2004 in The Los Angeles Times

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