AGA survey finds gaming grew 4.7 percent nationally
Pub Date: 7/1/2006
The 2006 "State of the States" gambling survey by the American Gaming Association found legal gambling retained a high degree of social acceptability, that internet gambling and poker continue to grow exponentially, and that consumer spending on gaming grew 4.7 percent.
Montana is not included in the survey because the AGA does not consider this state's limited stakes games and small "mom and pop" operations to constitute "casino" gambling.
The report said 455 "commercial casinos" in 11 states generated revenues of $30.29 billion, employed 355,000 people (+1.6 percent) with a payroll of $12.6 billion (up $400 million) and paid $4.93 billion in direct gaming taxes (up 5.1 percent and amounting to 16 percent of revenues).
About 52.8 million people visited casinos a total of 322 million times, six million more visits than in the previous year.
When it comes to poker, most players are 21-39 years old and nearly twice as many men played as women. Americans spent more than $207 million on the game in 2005, an increase of 37 percent over 2004. Nearly one in five Americans played poker in 2005.
While many states anxiously witness the growth of internet gambling, many concede it will take action at the federal level to control it. While 4 percent of the population has gambled on-line, 38 percent of those players tried it for the first time in the past year while a phenomenal proportion 70 percent began within the last two years.
Just one in five on-line players realize or will admit that internet gambling is illegal, yet more than half at least somewhat agree that e-casinos may find ways to cheat players and almost half believe that other internet players will find ways to cheat.
On-line gamblers said blackjack was the most frequently played game (78 percent) followed by video poker (65 percent), video slots (60 percent) and roulette (37 percent). Craps, Pai Gow poker and Baccarat were also popular.
In terms of social acceptability, the AGA report found 50 percent of Americans surveyed agreed gambling was an activity "perfectly acceptable for everyone" and 29 percent said it was acceptable for others but not themselves. Only 18 percent found it unacceptable for anyone.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, July, 2006, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.