New Study Shows Nevada Residents More Likely to Develop Gambling Addiction

A huge source of income for Nevada is tourism and hospitality, focused mainly on casinos and hotels.

A UNLV study has found that around 15% of Nevada’s residents have a problem with gambling.

These residents are described as far more likely to suffer negative consequences due to their gambling compulsion.

The National Council on Problem Gambling has reported that the number of people in the state who are suffering from a gambling addiction is 7.5 times more than the 2% US national average.

Reports show that in terms of problem gambling 21%, of the 65% of Nevada residents who shared that they had gambled in the past year fall into the “most severe risk category”.

The amount of debt per average out of the people looking to get better was $32,000.

The study shows that the risk of being in the severe risk category was double for casino workers.

Other groups that were highly likely to end up in that category are Blacks, Latinos, and those under 24.

The study has been published; however, it is not yet available online.

Researcher Explains

Andrea Dassopoulos is the project manager for the Nevada Problem Gambling Project at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute.

She is the lead author of  “Gambling Behaviors, Perceptions, and Risks Among Nevada Adults went on the City Cast Las Vegas podcast to talk about the findings from the study.

Dassopoulos listed the many possible negative outcomes for gambling addicts:

“We’re talking about financial harms, which are everything you can imagine — bankruptcy, loss of savings. foreclosures, using payday loans, not being able to pay your rent, not being able to buy food.”

The researcher, a Nevada resident herself, described the population of Las Vegas, which makes up 75% of all people living in Nevada, as more vulnerable, and her reasoning for that was “we’re immune to it.”

On the podcast, she mentioned how, due to the constant exposure, most of the residents were used to the “persistent overexposure”.

Reasoning Behind Addiction

The main reasoning that the people gave during the study is the worst possible one.

A question in their survey found that instead of using gambling for entertainment and enjoyment, many of the people with gambling problems attributed their desire to gamble to profit.

Dassopoulos shared her reaction when she found that out:

“That was surprising to me because I would think anybody who lives here, especially people who work in the industry, would know.”

She has also expressed her relief that similar research needs to be conducted yearly, as it’s not being done frequently enough.