| Bingo is king in Georgia. Georgia is where Bingo | | | | prizes they can pay at any one time. Games can |
| originated in America, way back in 1929. But in the | | | | hand out prizes with a $1,500 per session and |
| decades after Bingo showed up (by way of Italy) | | | | $3,000 per week, which is well below the limits in |
| at a county fair in Georgia, the game had been | | | | certain other states. |
| outlawed with most other forms of gambling. | | | | The Georgia Bureaus of Investigation: Bingo Unit |
| In 1976, Bingo was legalized for non-profit | | | | (which sounds a little like a C.S.I. television series in |
| organizations. Since Bingo is one of only three | | | | the making) regulates bingo games in the state. In |
| forms of gambling legal in Georgia (along with | | | | the last 25 years, around 50 organizations have |
| raffles and the state lottery), the game has | | | | lost their license in Georgia for repeated violations |
| become a huge crowd pleaser. | | | | of the local gambling laws. The result is that most |
| There are well over 200 bingo operators in | | | | bingo palaces in Georgia are V.F.W.s and service |
| Georgia today. Georgians grossed over | | | | organizations, the kind of organizations which run a |
| $35,000,000 in revenues for its Bingo operators in | | | | game to fund their non-profit activities. |
| 2005, for an average of around $130,000 per | | | | Of course, as long as bingo is a big money |
| operation. Georgians won over $20,000,000 in | | | | venture, there will be those who find a way to |
| prizes over the same span. Georgian charities saw | | | | skirt the law. With 12,000 or more people |
| $1.5 in proceeds from the Bingo industry. | | | | employed in the charitable gambling industry of |
| Georgia has some of the strictest bingo laws in | | | | Georgia, the Bingo Unit is certain to be busy in the |
| the U.S. Operators are restricted in the amount of | | | | years to come. |
