Minnesota has been a very active gambling state, as I observed during a tour of the state in 1996. Shortly after the state lottery began in 1989, the governor signed agreements so that Native tribes could have casino gaming. The agreement (which could only allow such gaming as was permitted others in the sate) was based upon the fact that Minnesota also allowed private social card games and machine games that could give replays as prizes.
The eleven tribes in Minnesota now run nineteen gambling halls with bingo, blackjack, and machine games. The largest casino is Mystic Lake, which is run by a Sioux tribe and located within the Minneapolis metropolitan area. The facility has 2,500 slots and 100 table games. With a monopoly facility serving several million people, the casino grosses several hundred million dollars in net profits each year. Each of the 300 tribal members has received annual per capita bonuses of more than $700,000 because of the casino profits. Other large casinos include the Treasure Island in Red Wing; the two Grand Casinos in Hinckley and Onamia; and casinos in Duluth, Carleton, Granite Falls, Mahnomen, and Morton.
The state also has pari-mutuel racing. Canterbury Downs, the largest track, was closed, however, shortly after the Mystic Lake Casino opened. Since that time there have been repeated efforts to allow the track to have machine gaming as a tool to restore live racing and also to gain revenues for a new stadium in downtown Minneapolis. The efforts have failed. The facility remains open as an intertrack horse race-betting parlor.
Charitable gaming prospers, as Minnesota sells more pull-tab tickets than any other jurisdiction. Charities win over $200 million a year from the sale of the tickets, ten times as much as they win at bingo games.
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