Bingo is master in Georgia. Georgia is where Bingo all began in The US, back in 1929. However in the years just after Bingo arrived (via Italy) at a county fair in Georgia, the game was made illegal together with most other varieties of gambling.
In 1976, Bingo was legalized for not for profit organizations. Since Bingo is one of just three types of wagering legal in Georgia (along with raffles and the state lottery), the game has grow to be a big crowd pleaser.
You can find more than Two hundred bingo providers in Georgia today. Georgians brought in above 35,000,000 dollars in profits for its Bingo providers in 2005, for an average of about One Hundred and Trity Thousand dollars per provider. Georgians won over $20,000,000 in prizes over the same span. Georgian charities saw $1,500,000 in cash from the Bingo industry.
Georgia has a few of the toughest bingo laws in the U.S. Providers are restricted in the amount of prizes they can pay out 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 far below the limits in particular states.
The Georgia Bureaus of Investigation: Bingo Unit oversees bingo games in the state. In the last Twenty five years, close to 50 businesses have forfeited their permit in Georgia for recurring violations of the state betting laws. The result is that most bingo palaces in Georgia are V.F.W.s and support organizations, the kind of groups which operate a game to pay for their non-profit activities.
Naturally, as long as bingo is a big money venture, there will be individuals who discover a way to skirt the law. With twelve thousand or more individuals working in the charitable gambling sector of Georgia, the Bingo Unit is going to be busy during the years to come.