Gambling Problem Facts

The National Council on Problem Gambling defines pathological or compulsive gambling as a progressive addiction that includes an increasing preoccupation with gambling, causing major physical, psychological, vocational or social disruptions in a person's life.

Two to Eight Million Impacted

• The council estimates 1 percent of the U.S. adult population, about two million people, meet the pathological gambling criteria. Another 3 percent, six million, can be classified as "problem gamblers" (meeting one criterion or more and experiencing problems due to gambling behavior). Two-thirds of federally recognized Native American tribes have legalized gambling and the only states without it are Utah and Hawaii.

Billions in Revenue and Costs

• According to research done for the Comprehensive Problem Gambling Act (HR 2906), states and private companies received $95 billion in gambling revenues in 2009. The federal government received $6 billion in taxes withheld from people's jackpots.

  The bill's sponsors (Reps. Moran, Berman, Wolf and Terry) claimed problem gambling's "social costs" (addiction, crime and bankruptcy) totaled almost $7 billion in 2009.

Warning Signs

• Gambling does not have a physiological component but still can become a progressive addiction characterized by an ongoing and all-consuming preoccupation. It's not about the money, it's about the behavior.

  Gamblers Anonymous has 20 questions people can ask themselves to see if they might be problem gamblers, such as "Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling?", "Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy?" and "Did gambling affect your reputation?"