Gambling
Trends In The USA
March 10, 2006
The latest
trend is to
analyze gamblers and gambling habits. Gambling affects a
wide range of people from different kind of backgrounds.
The highest percentage of visitors to Las Vegas were in
the age group of 65 and older (22 percent). Researchers
say that gambling is the fastest growing teenage
addiction, with the rate of pathological gambling among
high school and college-aged youth about twice that of
adults. Despite laws in Atlantic City restricting casino
gambling to people of age 21 or older, a survey of
teenagers at Atlantic City High School revealed that not
only had 64 percent gambled in a local casino but 40
percent had done so before the age of 14. Adults made
their first bet for money at the age of 22.5 on average.
Nineteen percent placed their first money bet before the
age of 16. The average teenager begins gambling at an
age of 12.
How much money do gamblers spend?
Gambling has become a $40 billion dollar a year industry
in the United States of America. From 1974 to 1994 which
is 20 years, the amount of money Americans legally
wagered has risen 2,800 percent, from $17 billion to
$482 billion. Pathological gamblers lose all the money
they have, then run up credit card debt then they sell
or pawn possessions and plead for loans from family and
friend. More than half of them end up stealing money,
often from their employers. The average Gamblers
Anonymous member will have lost all his or her money and
accumulated debts ranging from $35,000 to $92,000 before
seeking any treatment. Casino players have a median
income of $39,000 compared to the U.S.A median of
$31,000. 52 percent of all new players have college
education and 41 percent of all new players are
white-collar employees. Over 60 percent of American
adults have gambled last year or over the past twelve
months on some activity. Over 80 percent say gambling is
lawful and casinos are ok. A
New Jersey survey indicated that approximately 5 percent
of the adult population that gambles has a gambling
addiction problem.
Conclusion
98 percent males begin gambling early in life or around
teen years. About 74 percent females begin gambling
later in life around 30 years or older. More than half
of all pathological gamblers commit felonies to pay off
gambling debts, particularly financial crimes like
embezzlement, check kiting, tax evasion and credit card
and insurance and most of them get caught.
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