California Deal Authorizes Huge Indian Casino Near Oakland
/Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a deal on Thursday
with an Indian tribe that authorizes construction of the largest urban
casino in the country on the site of a former bowling alley across the
San Francisco Bay from here. The agreement, with the Lytton Band of
Pomo Indians, will create a casino bigger than any in Las Vegas or
Atlantic City along a major commuter freeway in San Pablo, an
economically struggling town about 15 miles north of Oakland. The
casino, if approved by the State Legislature and the Department of the
Interior, could have as many as 5,000 slot machines, making it the
third largest in the United States. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, both in
rural Connecticut, have 6,600 and 6,200 slots. [more 
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]- The 54 Indian casinos in California are already
raking in $5 Billion a year, which isn't far behind the entire Las
Vegas area ($7.7 billion). With 107 federally recognized Indian
reservations and rancherias--more than anywhere else in the
country--California could easily surpass Nevada as the nation's
gambling capital in the next few years. [more ]
