The average Illinois household lost $1,500 in legal gambling, net of winnings, in 2025. I am not, however, concerned about the average family; I care about the paycheck-to-paycheck family that lost $10,000, often much more, to gambling.
Gambling harms families. Gambling is ubiquitous in Illinois, and it is projected to expand dramatically, especially among the vulnerable young. We can reduce the impact of gambling without prohibiting it.
There are four major forms of legal gambling in Illinois: the lottery, casinos, video gaming and sports betting. Industry lobbyists are pushing right now in the legislature to legalize online casino gambling. There are 50,000 video gambling terminals, in most of the taverns and convenience stores in the state.
The gaming industry “hold” in Illinois in fiscal year 2025 — total wagered minus the amount paid to winners — was $7.5 billion. Divided by 5 million households of 2.5 persons each, that comes to almost $1,500 per household. The amount lost by gamblers keeps going up, as the smartphone becomes the primary means of placing bets. Young people, whose impulse control hasn’t fully matured, love fast-moving, sometimes addictive, prediction betting. Such as: Will the next pitch be a ball or a strike?
Keep in mind: The gambling industry and the state can only win if the gambler loses. Yet the $2.2 billion in state gambling tax revenue in 2025 will never solve the state’s fiscal problems.
There are some benefits from gambling, as with alcohol consumption. Social gambling can be fun — the rush of the anticipation and the fantasy dreams of how we would spend lottery winnings. Unfortunately, as with alcohol, gambling also destroys lives. Around 1% of U.S. adult population has a severe gambling problem. That’s a lot of people, plus their distraught families.
Anecdotes are sometimes more powerful than dry statistics.
I remember waiting, a couple of years ago, in line at a Casey’s convenience store in my rural hometown. The rather down-and-out-looking fellow in front of me was buying a handful of lottery tickets. When I came to the head of the line, the grandmotherly clerk looked at me, sighed and said: “The wrong people buy these tickets.”
In the same town, a sharp young lady spent $70,000-plus from her live-in partner’s bank account, without his knowledge, to feed her gambling habit. That ended a beautiful relationship; they would have made great parents.
A retired schoolteacher friend of mine drives a tour bus part time. The destination for the older crowd in the bus is often a nearby casino. My friend related this: “As I was walking out of a casino recently, I overheard a young couple arguing. The young woman stopped her husband or partner and blurted: ‘How in the world are we ever going to pay next week’s rent?!’”
Then, there is the case of my good friend Jon, who committed suicide a few years ago, gambling debts a big part of what bedeviled him.
How do you quantify the costs to society of these anecdotes?
Forty percent of adults in America entered a casino at least once last year. As a figure for gambling participation, this is conservative, as most gambling is now done by phone. If 4% of gamblers become addicted or have big problems with their gambling, then there are about 160,000 problem gamblers in Illinois, probably many more. Gambling affects the household, of course, so take that that figure times 2.5 persons per household, and you have 400,000 of our state’s residents adversely affected by gambling.
Do we really need to seduce more young people into this tangled social thicket of gambling? Yet, the gambling companies such as DraftKings and FanDuel are pumping big money into legislative campaigns right now to curry favor with lawmakers.
Here’s what we can do to reduce the mayhem caused by gambling:
• Defeat the online casino bill; indeed, prohibit all online gambling.
• Make gambling less convenient. Limit the hours that video gambling terminals can be active, and that lottery tickets can be sold, just as alcohol sales were once prohibited on Sundays.
• Require big warning signs at the entrance of casinos. Have recovering gamblers propose the signs, such as: “Will you be able to pay next week’s rent?” “Does your wife know you’re at the casino?” “Do your kids have all they need?”
If we could cut gambling activity in half, we could save thousands of our residents from the household deprivation and turmoil, even suicide, that gambling causes.
Why are elected officials so proud of how much Illinois has increased gambling (and its losses)? Why do lawmakers unnecessarily harm people? They should be ashamed of themselves.
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call 1-800-GAMBLER, text “ILGAMB” to 833234 or visit areyoureallywinning.com to reach the Illinois helpline.
Jim Nowlan is a former member of the Illinois House. He has worked for three unindicted Illinois governors and taught American politics at the University of Illinois. He is a co-author of “Illinois Politics: A Citizen’s Guide to Power, Politics and Government.”
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