KAILUA-KONA — Gambling is prohibited by law in Hawaii, however, the number people addicted to gambling here ranks the state 27 out of 50, according to a recently released Wallet Hub study.
KAILUA-KONA — Gambling is prohibited by law in Hawaii, however, the number people addicted to gambling here ranks the state 27 out of 50, according to a recently released Wallet Hub study.
Nevada — home to Las Vegas, Hawaii’s ninth island — was ranked the No. 1 gambling addicted state in the nation. South Dakota, Mississippi, Montana and Oklahoma rounded out the top five addicted states, according to Wallet Hub, which touts itself as a “one-stop destination for all the tools and information consumers and small business owners need to make better financial decisions and save money.”
According to the study, gambling exists in every state — even Hawaii and Utah, where gambling is prohibited by law. However, not all gamblers are the same — some are “recreational” or “social” gamblers who occasionally take part in gambling but can quit at any point, while others are “professional” gamblers able to make a living while separating work from personal life.
According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, “gambling disorder” affects 2.2 percent of U.S. adults and had a societal cost of $6 billion in 2013. The council estimated 2.2 percent of the Hawaii’s population (23,831 people) had a gambling disorder that year.
According to the Mayo Clinic, gambling “stimulates the brain’s reward system much like drugs such as alcohol can, leading to addiction.”
To identify the states most addicted to gambling, Wallet Hub’s analysts compared the 50 states across two key dimensions, namely “gambling-friendliness” and “gambling problem and treatment.” Such topics covered in “gambling-friendliness” included the number of commercial and tribal casinos per capita, number of gaming machines per capita, presence of illegal gambling operations, legality of daily fantasy sports, among others.
Though Hawaii ranked 27th overall for residents addicted to gambling, the state tied with Utah for the 49th spot for being the least friendly to gambling.
It was ranked among the best states, at No. 2, for gambling problem and treatment, which looks at the percent of adults with gambling addiction, gambling arrest and addiction treatment programs, among other metrics.
Hawaii tied with Illinois for the No. 1 state with the most gambling-related arrests per capita.
Utah, the only other state prohibiting by law gambling, was ranked the least gambling addicted state at No. 50. It topped Nebraska, Alabama, and Arizona.