Gambling is a favorite hobby of Americans. This topic has fascinated me since I first read the book Bringing Down the House, in fifth grade. When I visited California’s college, I discovered that there was one course that could be taken to fulfill the math requirement. It was “The Probability of Gambling”, which was a study of various card games such as Texas Hold ’em or blackjack. Gambling is also very popular in media. You can see it in movies like 21 and Casino Royal. While I was young, the idea of making money playing a game I liked fascinated me.
However, as I grew up, I realized how foolish these beliefs were. If patrons were constantly putting casinos in debt, casinos wouldn’t allow gambling. I am now more interested in the economic and social effects of gambling. While I believe gambling has been a positive for the US economy in past years, it will continue to be beneficial for the economy for many years to come. However, the increased stress that gambling places on society has significantly increased the problems in areas with large gambling industries.
The Virginia Company was looking
The Virginia Company was looking for a way to make a profit and began gambling in the Americas. The colonists turned to a lottery which was very successful. However, it was also associated with the laziness of the settler and the economic problems faced by the colony. Because of its effect on the British Empire’s royal lottery, the Crown decided to close the lottery. American colonists used lotteries again to raise funds for their Revolutionary War. This proved to be extremely successful and was continued throughout the 19th century to improve transportation, particularly as the Western frontier gained more attention and became more popular. Gambling became a popular form of entertainment for West-side miners after the discovery of gold in California.
The gold rush led to a slump in the economy, which many people associate with economic depression. The lotteries became increasingly corrupt with the organizers manipulating the results to their advantage for a small portion of the pot. These conditions led to a nationwide ban on gambling. Nevada was the exception. Nevada is where professional gamblers flocked from all over the country to build the foundation for modern-day Las Vegas.
Gambling bans didn’t last very long
Gambling bans didn’t last very long. The Great Depression forced the government to lift the ban to try to revive the economy. Gambling grew again in popularity, but it only increased inequality between the poor and the wealthy due to the uneven payouts associated with casino gambling. The Cold War saw state lotteries become popular, particularly when Reagan was elected president.
This was because Reagan cut funding for critical aspects of the country, such as education, Medicare, and other government services, in order to finance the war against the USSR. Due to the inability of the state to regulate prize money on reservations, tribal gambling began to gain popularity. Locals and tourists would rather gamble at state-run lotteries, while they were unable to win it all. However, this has rarely happened. These different aspects of gambling are steadily becoming more popular with casinos and lotteries supporting various state economies.
Two main benefits of gambling are that it brings in tourists and taxes the state. Because of the low chances of winning in casinos, an influx of tourists can mean money flowing into the state’s economy. Gambling revenue is taxed, and the state receives even more. In Nevada, it has almost $1 billion in tax revenue. In addition to creating more than 500,000 jobs throughout the country, the gambling industry also has lowered unemployment. Gambling isn’t perfect. There are also other statistics that paint an even more troubling picture of the industry.
Gambling seems to have a strong
Gambling seems to have a strong correlation to crime. Cities that have opened casinos see an increase in crime rates of more than 50%. In an effort to fight gambling-related problems, states are forced to increase their police force and divert funding from other projects. Due to the high amount of money flowing into and out of casinos every day, organized crime is also very common. Problem gambling is also a bigger problem when there are casinos. This leads to an increase in crime rates when people have to pay back gambling debts. While there are negative aspects to gambling, most of the time the American gambling industry has been a positive force in keeping the economy from crashing.
My research has shown that gambling has proven to be a boon for America. Gambling has been legalized or promoted whenever the country has been in economic distress. It has a positive impact on the economy. I also believe it benefits the American people. Poker and blackjack are both universally accessible and can bring people together in social settings. In just a few months, I’ll be legally able to experience the huge attraction that gambling offers to many Americans. While there are some negative side effects to gambling, they are far less than the benefits that the industry has shown throughout history.
