Just who is a "Montana gambler?"
It's more than three out of four of us, according to the Montana Gambling Study Commission's 1998 report to the Legislature.
The study was produced under contract by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana in Missoula and is one of the more recent reliable sources of information. The Bureau also conducted a gaming economic impact study in 2002.
The 1998 study found 78 percent of Montanans participated in gambling during the previous year and that "the overall participation rate appears to be stable."
Montanans played video gaming machines, the State Lottery, live bingo or keno and participated in charitable gambling such as raffles, calcuttas and 50/50.
Gamblers were evenly split between men and women, and were well spread throughout the 18-and-older age ranges.
Ethnicity of Montana gamblers reflects the ethnic make-up of the state. Six out of ten gamblers were married.
In terms of education demographics, nearly 93 percent had graduated high school and attained some college or a college degree.
Only 1.9 percent of reported gamblers were unemployed. The rest were employed (70 percent) or not in the work force, which the report defined as "retired, etc." (just over 28 percent).
The study found that almost 95 percent of Montana gamblers received no public assistance and about 80 percent were receiving no social security.
interestingly, when broken down by income demographic, Montanans with a $50,000-plus annual income who participate in gambling (almost 30 percent) roughly equal the percentage of gamblers in the $15,000-$35,000 annual income bracket (30.5 percent). About one out of five gamblers had incomes ranging from $35,000 to $50,000 while about one of five had an annual income of less than $15,000. (Keep in mind the research was conducted in 1997 and income ranges should now be adjusted upward accordingly.)
Player characteristics chart from Montana Gambling Study Commission report to the Montana Legislature, 1998.
Sources: Montana Gambling Study Commission report to the Montana Legislature, 1998; Special Reports I, published and distributed to 180,000 households state-wide, winter 2001 by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.