As we commented in an article last year, Californians are risk-takers, not least from the very nature of the place they live on the San Andreas Fault. It should therefore come as no surprise that California comes out top in surveys conducted to find numbers of regular gamblers in the United States. Despite being a vast gaming market California has not, until now, been home to the largest casinos in the land. That distinction goes to Connecticut with the giant Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos, two of the largest in the world.

Legislation signed yesterday by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger could put California in the major casino league. Gambling compacts agreed with four Indian tribes authorise 17,000 more slot machines, far outnumbering the 2,000 per tribe allowed under the 1999 compacts. The Pechanga and Morongo tribes will be able to operate 7,500 slot machines; the Sycuan and Agua Caliente tribes 5,000. A separate, non-controversial agreement will permit the Yurok tribe of Northern California to install 99 gaming machines.

Of course the Governor’s ratification of the deals has not met with approval from everyone. The Unions are still angry about their failure to get collective bargaining amendments included in the compacts, and the horse racing fraternity is considering its options. There is now 90 days in which opponents to the enlarged casinos can collect the necessary 434,000 valid signatures for each of the four compacts and force the lucrative deals to a statewide referendum.

If the signatures are collected, in what would be a massive and expensive task, a vote would be held next February. As the deals stand, the compacts will remain valid for 23 years and the state of California will receive a larger slice of the tribal casino revenue. In the first year alone the compacts ensure that California will receive over US$200 million. Over the lifespan of the compacts the state will be richer by multi-billions of dollars. (E-07.11.07)

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