The promise of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, to improve economic conditions for Indian tribes, has largely been unfulfilled.  While 130 tribes have Las Vegas style casinos, only a few casinos near major population centers are actually thriving.   The rest are only covering expenses.  In a analysis reported by David Pace of the Associated Press, of the 500,000 Indians whose tribes operate casinos, only about 80,000 belong to tribes with gambling operations that generate more than $100,000 yearly.  After paying for casino operations and debt service, most tribes have little left to upgrade the quality of life.

The impact of casinos on unemployment and poverty rates on Indian reservations, overall, has been negligible.  For example, the number of participants in the Food Distribution Program of the Department of Agriculture increased 8.2 percent from 1990 to 1997 among tribes with casinos.  Data collected from the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Labor show that poverty rates in counties with casinos declined slightly to 15.5 percent, while rates in counties without casinos has remained about the same, 18.4 percent.  In addition, unemployment rates on reservations with casinos has declined slightly to 52.2 percent while unemployment on reservations not operating
casinos has increased slightly to 48.3 percent.  Clearly, for all but a small percentage of tribal members, casinos have not been the answer to poverty and unemployment.   Source:  9/1/00 - Casino Free Wisconsin, 9/1/00 Denver Rocky Mountain News.