Bingo Business Spells Profits for California Indian Tribes

A tantalizing potential for profit has drawn a dozen Indian tribes in California to high-stakes bingo games.

Unfettered by local gaming and zoning laws, tribes are free to try their hands at games on their reservations, but that freedom often upsets neighbors and nearby law enforcement agencies.

Eight tribes are offering bingo, three more are planning construction of huge bingo halls and one hall is under construction in Amadaor County.

In Central California, bingo has been in business more than a year at Santa Rosa Rancheria south of Lemoore. Lakeview Bingo Management Co. of Fresno has agreements with two tribes for games in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Profitable Venture

The Santa Rosa game has been profitable for the Tachi Indians, their bingo management company and bettors, including a Milpitas woman who walked away with an $80,000 jackpot. Paland Inc. of Dallas expected to take a year to pay off its $1-million construction cost on the 1,100-seat Southgate Bingo Palace but began making payments to the Tachis after seven months.

The Tachis pay each tribal member $100 per quarter from bingo profits, said tribal administrator Michael Raymond.

Bingo parlors are the most productive land use Indians can find for their reservations, which tend to be small and have poor land, said George Forman, a legal aid attorney with California Indian Legal Services.