Oklahoma has for a long time been synonymous with Bingo. This is due to the fact that the Amerindian tribes of Oklahoma have operated Bingo sessions for decades. Clients from many of the nearby states pile in trucks and travel into Oklahoma to gamble on Bingo on the weekends.
The 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) was introduced after a precedent setting determination by The U.S. Supreme Court just the year prior. From that time, twenty three of the thirty nine Native tribes of Oklahoma have opened gaming halls. The Chickasaw were the 1st Oklahoma Native band to take advantage of the gaming restrictions, and today operate 10 gambling halls of their own. Bingo is the game on which the above-mentioned gambling halls were founded. computerized games such as slot machine games were not approved, due to the fact that they are thought to contribute to gambling dependency at a higher rate than bingo.
In the past few years, Oklahoma law has changed to allow for gigantic Amerindian gambling gambling dens. You will now see Indian gambling halls with slot machine games, video poker and chemin de fer tables. Craps and roulette are not yet authorized in the Native gambling halls as of yet, although this is just a matter of time. Nobody can say what having different casino games in the bingo houses will do for the appeal of bingo.