"A decade ago, or perhaps earlier, it became very evident that California would soon have full-scale, Nevada-style casino gambling. The only question was who would reap the billions of dollars in profits.

While many interests coveted gambling in the nation's most populous state, California's long-impoverished Indian tribes grabbed the brass ring.

At the time, several tribes were -- albeit with dubious legality -- opening first-generation casinos with Nevada-style gambling, bootstrapping on the bingo parlors that had been legalized by a landmark Supreme Court ruling. Staving off efforts to shut them down, the gambling tribes used the profits from the casinos to buy political respectability through lavish contributions to politicians and passage of two statewide ballot measures.

In effect, they carved out a monopoly for themselves, freezing out the non-Indian gambling interests that wanted pieces of the action. The tribes' audacity and political brilliance have paid off handsomely, generating so much cash that they have been busily expanding their casinos into full-pledged destination resorts."

Get the Story:
Dan Walters: New gambling pact underscores tribal monopoly of huge industry (The Sacramento Bee 8/9)
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