Gamblers lost $3.3 billion to Pennsylvania casinos from July 1, 2018, through June 30. That period was the state government’s 2019 fiscal year, during which its vigorish in the form of gambling tax revenue was a record $1.39 billion.

Pennsylvania’s casino business is the second largest in the nation in terms of total revenue, behind only Nevada, and it is first in state revenue because its rates are higher than Nevada’s.

And that revenue is very likely to grow. Under yet another gambling expansion passed in 2017, state-sanctioned sports betting has begun, and 10 more applications are pending. That same expansion authorized online interactive gambling, satellite casinos, and other means to make it easier for Pennsylvanians to give their money to casinos and the state government.

State legislators love gambling because it has enabled them to increase state revenue without directly taxing gamblers, even though that tax is built into the money that they lose at casinos.

Many state legislators opposed state-sanctioned gambling on moral grounds when the law was debated in 2004, often citing the dysfunction that attends gambling addiction. They dropped their reticence once the money started rolling in.

Gambling is among the worst of addictions because addicted gamblers believe that they can win their way out of the hole..

The state government should vastly expand its disproportionately small anti-gambling-addiction effort, establish tight rules for casino-issued credit, and recognize that what they view as free money often entails a terrible price.

The Scranton Times-Tribune