A gambling surge could also inflame tensions over sovereignty. Because tribes govern themselves, they can take liberties private gambling operations can't. Each tribal council charters its own gaming commission. At Rumsey, Paula Lorenzo, as head of the tribal government, supervises the gaming commissioners. The gaming commissioners, in turn, are supposed to regulate the casino that Lorenzo runs.
Tribes conduct their own environmental regulation of tribal land.
Tribes hoping to attach golf courses and hotels to their casinos are already battling with neighbors over water rights. Indian casinos can employ felons, and at least two California tribes have stirred controversy by making deals with mob families. Very few of the unrecognized tribes are likely to win federal recognition. The real limit on slots is less the compact's formula than the market. Howard Dickstein notes that California has had an essentially open market for gambling for a decade, yet has only 20,000 slot machines.