Gambling in the United

States

Gambling Categories
Card Rooms
Dedicated rooms or establishments for poker and other card games.
Most common games are Texas hold 'em, Omaha hold em, seven
card stud, and blackjack/21.
Games are player vs player with profits made from rakes and
fees.

Gambling Categories
Indian Casinos
Operated on Native American lands and owned by a
Tribal government.

There are 562 federally recognized tribes

and about 40% of them operate gaming
establishments.
Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.

Gambling Categories
Commercial Casinos
Profit-making businesses owned by individuals, private companies, or
large public corporations.
Closely regulated by state governments, often include a limit on how
much can be wagered.
Some states allow land-based casinos, whereas others restrict casino
games to floating gambling halls on barges or riverboats.
Most popular games outside of horse racing and dedicated card rooms
include: slot machines, craps, roulette, and other parlor games.

Gambling Categories
Commercial Casinos
There are 467 commercial casinos that operate in the following states
and territories:
Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey,
North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South
Dakota, U.S. Virgin Islands, Washington, Oregon, California, and West
Virginia.
Most of the Las Vegas Strip, Atlantic City, and Twin River.

Gambling Categories
Charitable Games and Bingo
Games run by religious, charitable, educational, veterans, fraternal, or labor
organizations.

Legal Bookmaking and Wagering

Wagers made on sporting events, horse racing, greyhound racing, etc.

Races are the most popular, followed by football wagers.

Lotteries
Scratch tickets, Powerball, Megabucks etc

Yearly Gross Income from

Gambling
Card Rooms - $1.18 billion
Indian Casinos - $26.02 billion
Commercial Casinos - $34.41 billion
Charitable Games and Bingo - $2.22 billion
Legal Bookmaking and Wagering - $3.67 billion
Lotteries - $24.78 billion
Grand Total - $92.28 billion

Casinos
32% of casino patrons visit casinos in the West, 25% visit casinos in
the central party of the country, 24% visit casinos in the South, and
19% visit casinos in the Northeast.
There is a lot of competition at the state-level for obtaining the rights
for a casino between commercial groups and Native American tribes.
The top 5 markets for casinos of all types are:
Las Vegas Strip, Nevada
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Chicagoland, Illinois
Connecticut
Detroit, Michigan

Colonial History of Gambling

Colonial settlers brought games of chance with them.
Gambling was tolerated by some colonies and wildly prohibted in other
colonies (specifically the Puritan-led colonies).
The British colonies used lotteries early on as a way to procure funds to
establish and improve universities and secondary schools.
The 1769 restriction on lotteries by the British crown became one of many
issues which fueled tensions between the colonists and Britain.
The lower Mississippi River Valley became the big hotspot for gambling with
New Orleans emerging as our nations leading gambling center.
The mid 1800s brought a wave of hostility against gambling and gambling
centers started opening on riverboats off land. The Mississippi River became
the leading spot for gambling.

The Frontier History of Gambling

Anti-gambling forces in the east brought about a surge of gambling in the
younger territories in the West.
Once railroads became common passage and gained people access to the western frontier,
the riverboat business sank and so did the Mississippi riverboat casino business.
Since the West was less settled and organized, gambling became one of the main
activities.
Railroads combined with the California Gold Rush in the mid 1850s led to San Francisco
becoming the new gambling capital of the U.S.
Towns like Deadwood, Dodge City, Denver, and Kansas City were famous for their many
lavish gambling houses. Citizens of the West viewed gamblers as respected members of
society who worked an honest trade.
Before the 1800s ended, California strengthened its laws and policing of gambling
leading to the decline of gaming in the country.

The Prohibition History of

Gambling
In the early 1900s, gambling was almost uniformly outlawed throughout the
United States.
It had become a largely illegal activity and actually encouraged the growth of
the mafia and organized crime.
During Prohibition, illegal liquor provided additional revenue for mob figures
and towns which already had lax attitudes about vice became major gambling
centers. These towns (Miami, Galveston, and Hot Springs) began their careers
as tourist centers for this reason.
The Great Depression saw the legalization of some forms of gambling,
especially bingo, to allow church and other groups to raise money.

The Prohibition History of

Gambling
Many gangsters became wealthy from casinos and speakeasies, but the
Chicago/New York/Boston area legal pressures led to gangsters opening
gambling centers in more tolerant states (Texas, California, and Nevada were
big ones).
The mobster Benjamin Bugsy Siegel opened the Flamingo Hotel and
Casino, in Las Vegas. (Siegel was eventually murdered by his business partners
because of cost overruns.)
Organized crime's relationship with Las Vegas continued for thirty years and
tainted casino gambling in many people's minds.

Legalized Gambling
The stock market crash and the expensive Hoover Dam project led to the legalization of gambling
in Nevada in 1931.
Organized crime figures were pushed out of the casino business after Congress passed the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and Corporations moved in to take their place.
Legal gambling in Las Vegas led to the downfall of illegal gambling everywhere else.
New Jersey followed and legalized gambling in Atlantic City in 1977, which quickly rose to one of
the biggest tourist spots. This income revitalized New Jersey, which had economically collapsed.
In 1979, the Seminole tribe opened the first reservation-based gambling center, beginning a trend
that would be followed by other reservations.
When New Hampshire authorized a state lottery in 1963, it represented a major shift in social
policy. No state governments had previously directly run gambling operations to raise money. Other
states followed suit, and now the majority of the states run some type of lottery to raise funds for
state operations.

Gambling in Massachusetts
Wagering on horse racing is currently allowed at the states only active racetrack, the Plainridge
Racecourse. Heavily regulated horse and dog racing is also offered at Suffolk Downs and Raynham
Park.
Historically, the first dog tracks were Wonderland Greyhound Park and Taunton Dog Track, which
opened in 1935. The Taunton track closed in 1981 and became the Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park.
However, both of these tracks closed in 2009 when dog racing became banned by the Massachusetts
Greyhound Protection Act.
Horse racing began in 1947 at Bay State Raceway, which became the Foxboro Raceway. This
raceway closed in 1999 with the opening of Plainridge.
Wagering on animal races were once common at the state fairs (Northhampton Fair, Marshfield Fair,
Great Barrington Fair, Weymouth Fair, Berkshire County Fair, Brockton Fair, and Topsfield Fair. These
races were all shut down in 2005.
Online sports wagering is currently allowed, but it is heavily contested with bills submitted to end this
practice in Massachusetts.

Gambling in Massachusetts
Massachusetts has historically opposed casinos. Under the Expanded Gaming Act passed in
2011, Massachusetts may have as many as three casino resorts and one slot parlor.
A slot parlor opened this last June at Plainridge Park and two commercial casinos (MGM
Springfield and Wynn Everett) are under development.
One more casino is allowed in the southeastern part of the state, but has been delayed due to
unconvinced residents and competition from the neighboring Native American tribes.
Both of our federally recognized tribes have tried to open gaming facilities for years.
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe hopes to open a casino (First Light) on land in Taunton.
The Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah plans a small gaming facility in Aquinnah, Marthas
Vineyard.
Massachusetts has also had several gambling boats on and off from 1998 until 2013. These
boats from Gloucester, Lynn, and Provincetown, would take passengers out to federal waters
where gambling laws do not apply.