Off-Reservation casinos in California bring in mixed feelings

Couple of Central California’s impoverished Indian tribes got preliminary approval for becoming the first ones in the entire state for building casinos off the tribal reservations. Many believe that this move should have come a long time back, whereas others are worried that this might lead to a further rise in casinos in the area.

People, who are advocating the existing Indian casinos, find the idea to be not good, as it will increase the competition in a market, which is already crowded. Some of the residents in the state have made complaints that they do not wish to see more gamblers around, which can be the result with the rise of the new casinos.

However, these new tribes, who are opening the casinos, alongside the existing ones say that they are looking to rope in as much customers as possible. It will help not only them, but also the state to generate a lot of funds.

One of the things, which could come out of this move, is that through approval of off-reservation casinos, state and federal officials might have opened doors for more operations of such sort in different areas, which include the San Francisco.

Even Jerry Brown, Californian Governor, believes that the casino approvals will bring in more requests in the coming period. He said, in a letter given to Kenneth Salazar, US Secretary of Interior, “Exceptional circumstances persuaded me to make this decision. I believe that some more requests might be on its way from other tribes.”

Indian Casino Market of the state is considered the biggest across the nation. 59 out of 109 tribes recognized by the federals are running gambling operations in the country, which combined rake in over USD 7 billion on an annual basis. It is believed that they are going to make their presence felt in the online world as well, whence the regulation gets a final go ahead.

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