ONLINE CHURCH BULLETIN

More Facts on Gambling

•According to a press release from the American Gaming Association, in 2005 "the 455 commercial casinos in 11 states generated $30.29 billion in gross gaming revenue . . . an increase of nearly 5 percent over 2004 revenue totals."

•Gambling spending in Las Vegas exceeded $6 billion, and in Atlantic City, New Jersey, it surpassed $5 billion.

•Senior citizens with gambling problems spend $14,300 per year in casinos and $1,160 per year on lotteries.

•Well over half of American adults participate in legal gambling.

•20 percent of the nation's youths are taking up the habit according to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

•Just one pathological gambler costs society about $11,000. It is estimated the annual cost of gambling to the U.S. economy is between $40 billion and $50 billion, nearly half the cost of drug abuse.

•Casino Watch, a group opposed to gambling, argues that Missouri lost $572 million in gambling related business failures, crime, unemployment, social service costs and more. This compared with the $242 million in gambling tax revenue brought in during 2002.

—Gambling: Why Its a Bet Nobody Wins by John Ross Schroeder, The Good News, July/August 2006, pgs 20-21

via Glad Tidings of Good Things
Volume 11 (May 25, 2006), page 3