Charity Bingo Numbers Down.

LINCOLN, California – As reported by the L.A. Times: "On an oak-studded ranch east of town, the kids are getting healed on horseback.

"…Ride to Walk, the Placer County program is called, and it exists in no small part because of charity bingo.

"But the nonprofit's flow of revenue from the local bingo hall has shrunk in recent years, a fate shared by many charities around California. Most blame the scores of Indian casinos that have sprouted across the state.

"Ride to Walk saw its bingo profits plummet after the swank Thunder Valley Casino opened in 2003 just up the freeway, about 20 miles north of Sacramento. The casino and resort quickly became what gaming analysts say is the West's most prosperous Indian gambling emporium.

"Before Thunder Valley, the charity's weekly bingo night at a bare-bones hall in suburban Sacramento fetched as much as $150,000 a year. Now its Tuesday night session runs in the red, and the organization suffered a net loss of $6,600 on bingo during the last fiscal year.

"…Though some Indian casinos have given generously to charity, analysts estimate that revenue from charity bingo in the state has been slashed nearly in half in some spots near Indian casinos…"