If the gambling scene was not as spread out as it is in the State of California, perhaps it would be a Las Vegas in its own right.  The State Attorney General reported that the betting industry in California is now worth in excess of $13 billion per year, most of which is contributed to by an increase and expansion of Indian reservation casinos.

To get an idea of how large gambling at Indian casinos has become, a total of approximately $155 million was dispensed by tribal casinos into California revenue sharing funds used to help fund schools and public projects between 2001 and 2004.  Although this does not sound like an astronomical sum of money for the casino and gambling industry, when one considers the actual amount of money brought in by tribal casino in this same period - $17 billion - perspective is given to the situation.

After casino gambling, the next biggest contributor to California's betting industry was horse racing, which acquired over $4 million from gamblers last year.  A near third place went to the California lottery, which garnered over $3 billion.  And with the increase in popularity of poker, card clubs upped their business as well, bringing in approximately $655 million.

When looked at the gambling industry in relation to long-time industry giants such as agriculture (which was worth over $34 billion last year), it is not a far way off from being one of the biggest business in California.  Whether or not the growing trend continues, (policy makers are taking a closer look on the recent expansion of tribal casinos) one can most definitely count on California card rooms and slot machines to keep the gambling revenue rolling in.