Bingo and Oklahoma: 2 birds of a feather
Oklahoma has for a long time been synonymous with Bingo. That is owing to the fact that the American Indian tribes of Oklahoma have run Bingo sessions for generations. Patrons from each of the neighboring states load up in automobiles and visit Oklahoma to enjoy Bingo over the weekends.
The 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) was introduced after a precedent setting ruling by The U.S. Supreme Court the year prior. From that time, 23 of the 39 American Indian tribes located in Oklahoma have established gambling halls. The Chickasaw were the first Oklahoma Amerindian band to take advantage of the gambling rules, and at this time operate 10 gambling halls of their own. Bingo is the game on which these gambling halls were built on. computerized games such as slot machines were not authorized, since they are believed to lead to gambling problems at a higher rate than bingo.
In recent years, Oklahoma law has changed to allow for large Amerindian gaming gambling halls. You’ll now see Amerindian gambling halls with slots, video poker and chemin de fer tables. Craps and roulette are still not legal in the Indian gambling halls as of yet, however that is simply a waiting game. Nobody can determine what having different gambling hall games in the bingo parlours will do for the appeal of bingo.