Nevada Declared Most Gambling-Addicted State; Experts Appear Genuinely Surprised
If there were ever a contest judged by the phrase “well, of course it is,” Nevada has just taken home the trophy, the ribbon, and possibly the slot machine it was sitting next to.
In one of those exercises where people compare things everybody already knows, WalletHub has ranked Nevada the most gambling-addicted state in the union. One imagines the research team holding a meeting to confirm whether water is still wet.
In all fairness, gambling is a democratic pastime. It survives in every state, including those that frown on it as a schoolmarm frowns on chewing tobacco. Most folks do it politely: a lottery ticket once in a while, a cautious flutter in fantasy sports, or a casino trip framed as “a little entertainment” and not at all like feeding a hopeful coin into a very confident machine.
But then there are other arrangements of the human spirit.
According to WalletHub, gambling disorder affects between one and three percent of American adults. That may sound small until one remembers that America is a rather large experiment in optimism.
The same report notes the industry hauled in a record $78.7 billion last year, while Americans quietly surrendered more than $100 billion in losses. A tidy system, if one does not ask too many moral questions at once.
WalletHub offered a warning one might engrave on a stone and then immediately ignore: gambling addiction can ruin lives like alcohol and drugs, and those who cannot control it might consider avoiding places where temptation is abundant. Which is to say, perhaps don’t move to the buffet if you’re trying to lose weight.
Then came the rankings. Nevada, of course, landed at number one. South Dakota followed, along with Montana, Mississippi, and Louisiana. At the bottom of the list, where virtue apparently goes to retire quietly, were Utah, Vermont, Alaska, Kansas, and Hawaii.
Nevada’s résumé, such as it is, reads like a proud confession: most casinos per capita, most gaming machines, most gambling-related arrests, and one of the highest rates of gambling disorder at roughly 2.7 percent. It also leads the nation in Gamblers Anonymous meetings per capita, which is like being first in line at the fire station when your pocket is on fire.
And just to keep things lively, Nevada’s laws allow gambling machines in places that elsewhere are reserved for milk and bread. One can hardly buy a sandwich without being gently invited to reconsider one’s financial philosophy.
Indeed, Nevada ranks number one, and one could almost appreciate its brutal honesty.
