After months of planning, a California Indian tribe has followed through on its promise to deliver real money gambling to the state of California. Citing specific Indian gambling legislation created in 1988, a band of Diegueno Mission Indians on the Santa Ysabel Reservation has launched a real money bingo site for Golden State residents and visitors. DesertRoseBingo.com does not offer California online poker betting like the tribe originally promised, but could very well lead the way for a virtual poker operation in the future. A cyber poker launch from the tribe depends on the success of the bingo site launched just this week.
Bingo is seen as a socially acceptable game of chance. Churches, civic and fraternal organizations and charities often host weekly bingo games to raise funds. This has happened in the state of California and across the United States for decades. So delivering a real money bingo option for California citizens may be a smart move for several reasons. California legislators may simply turn a blind eye on the operation. And public support could bolster the possibility and success of an eventual Internet poker product. Chris Wrieden is the Director of Marketing for the Santa Ysabel Interactive operation, and he justified his tribe’s bingo launch in a recent interview.
He pointed to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act signed in 1988 as legal justification for the real money online bingo operation. IGRA was a piece of legislation signed into law by California state legislators giving Indian tribes recognized by the government the ability to regulate and launch their own gambling operations, with some limitations. Class II games such as poker and bingo are allowed by IGRA as long as tribal leaders regulate the game, and it takes place on recognized Indian tribal lands. In 1988, there was no Internet. So whether California lawmakers agree with the tribe as to a virtual interpretation of IGRA is going to be the basis of the bingo site’s survival.
California for the last couple of years has been named on the short list of states to join New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada in the US online gambling industry. And several efforts have been made to offer legislation which would legalize online poker in the Golden State. But thus far, nothing has stuck. With 2 different online gambling proposals already waiting on state lawmakers to cast their votes one way or the other, this brash defiance of California law by the San Diego Indian tribe is simply one more reason to believe that California will have an online gambling presence sooner than later. The PPA has been very supportive of the state’s efforts to move forward with online poker legislation, and is also very supportive of a coordinating a California online casino initiative as well.
The Santa Ysabel Reservation is located in Northeastern San Diego County, and is recognized as an Indian group with tribal rites at both the state and federal levels. And there currently exists no state law which specifically outlines online bingo as an illegal pastime, where real money gambling is concerned. When Chris Wrieden was questioned as to why online poker has not become a reality, as the tribe promised, he pointed out that the technical realities of delivering a cyber poker operation were more complex than its bingo counterpart. He also reiterated that online poker would be the next step, barring any legal reprimand or shutdown of the bingo site.