Column: Oklahoma becoming number one in gaming

Friday, August 29, 2008  

"While Playboy Magazine is picking the Oklahoma Sooners to be the No. 1 in football in 2008, the state of Oklahoma has the dubious distinction of being No. 1 in Indian gambling.

That’s gambling, not gaming. Gaming sounds like harmless fun while gambling sounds too harsh.

What state has the most Indian casinos? Well, there are 423 Indian casinos in America and about one-fourth - 94 - are in Oklahoma.

That makes us No. 1, thanks to Gov. Brad Henry who made legalized gambling the centerpiece of his administration.

California comes in at No. 2 with a measly 57 and Minnesota is third with 35.

Even though we have the most casinos, California (or known to some as Northern Mexico) is No. 1 with 62,732 gambling machines. We have 41,771 gambling machines in Oklahoma. And again, Minnesota has 20,935. Minnesota has a third the number of casinos we have but about half the machines.

You can see a pattern developing here - Oklahoma has a lot of casinos that don’t bring in a lot of money per unit."

Get the Story:
Charles Biggs: Oklahoma’s growing chance for being No. 1 in anything (The Tulsa Beach 8/28)