Bingo is emperor in Georgia. Georgia is where Bingo originated in America, way back in 1929. However during the years just after Bingo arrived (by way of Italy) at a fair in Georgia, the game was outlawed with most other varieties of wagering.
In Nineteen Seventy Six, Bingo was made legal for not for profit organizations. Since Bingo is one of just three forms of betting lawful in Georgia (along with raffles and the state lottery), the game has develop into a huge crowd pleaser.
You can find more than Two hundred bingo providers in Georgia these days. Georgians grossed more than $35,000,000 in income for its Bingo providers in Two Thousand and Five, for an average of about 130,000 dollars per operation. Georgians won more than Twenty Million dollars in prizes over the same span. Georgian non profit organizations saw $1.5 million in income from the Bingo industry.
Georgia has a number of of the toughest bingo laws and regulations within the U.S. Operators are limited in the sum of prizes they can pay at any one time. Games can hand out prizes with a one thousand five hundred dollars per session and $3,000 per week, which is well lower than the restrictions in other states.
The Georgia Bureaus of Investigation: Bingo Unit oversees bingo games in the state. During the last 25 years, close to Fifty establishments have lost their license in Georgia for recurring violations of the state wagering laws and regulations. The end result is that nearly all bingo palaces in Georgia are V.F.W.s and support agencies, the kind of groups which operate a game to fund their non-profit actions.
Obviously, as long as bingo is really a big money venture, there will be people who find a way to work around the law. With 12,000 or more individuals employed within the charitable gambling industry of Georgia, the Bingo Unit is going to be busy during the years to come.
