Gambling Statistics

What is unique about the current gambling situation is the speed at which it has gone
from an undercurrent in American society to high-profile, socially recognized activity.

The gambling industry has grown tenfold in the U.S. since 1975. Gambling is everywhere - the Internet, state lotteries, race tracks, sporting events, and slot machines in Conveniences stores.
Thirty-seven states now have lotteries
Gambling Addiction continues to rise as the multi-billion dollar industry targets teens, the poor and senior citizens. " (Turning the Tide on Gambling)
15 million people display some sign of gambling addiction
Two-thirds of the adult population placed some kind of bet last year
Gambling profits in casinos are more than $30 billion while lotteries are about 17 billion annually
"Players" with household incomes under $10,000 bet nearly three times as much on lotteries as those with incomes over $50,000
In 1973 state lotteries had $2 billion in sales. By 1997, the revenues reached $34 billion
Young people experience at-risk gambling behavior at twice the rate of adults.
Gambling among young people is on the increase: 42 percent of 14-year-olds, 49 percent of 15-year-olds, 63 percent of 16-year-olds, 76 percent of 18-year-olds.
There are now approximately 260 casinos on Indian reservations (in 31 states and with $6.7 billion in revenue)
Internet gambling has nearly doubled every year since 1997 - in 2001 it exceed $2 billion
The Internet boasts 110 sport-related gambling sites
Pathological gambling wrecks lives and ruins families
After casinos opened in Atlantic City, the total number of crimes within a thirty-mile radius increased 100 percent
Pathological gambling wrecks lives and ruins families. The average rate of divorce for problem gamblers is nearly double that of non-gamblers
The suicide rate for pathological gamblers is twenty times higher than for non-gamblers (one in five attempts suicide)
Sixty-five percent of pathological gamblers commit crimes to support their gambling habit

Reprinted from http://www.overcominggambling.com/facts.html