The United States has a gambling epidemic and Kentucky is no different. On September 7th 2023, sports betting became legal in Kentucky. Since then the amount of gambling in the state has increased tenfold. According to Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling (KYCPG), in the first 14 months since the bill was passed, Kentuckians spent 2.9 billion dollars gambling. So why is it so bad and what can we do to stop it?

The Problem

Kentucky’s gambling problem has grown substantially in the past 15 years. The KYCPG has published a multitude of articles and surveys documenting Kentucky’s gambling problems. In a survey they published in 2008 they claim, “1,689,058 Kentucky adults who have gambled. Further, we estimate that there are nearly 190,000 at-risk gamblers, more than 50,000 problem gamblers, and more than 9,000 compulsive gamblers.” Since 2008 the amount of at-risk and problem gamblers has increased substantially. Furthermore, multiple sources report that calls to the Kentucky gambling helpline have doubled from 2023 to 2024 alone. The most vulnerable time for gamblers is in high school. The Leo reported in January of 2025 that 26% of high school students gambled at some point in their lives, with 2% saying that financial or personal harm has been done to them because of gambling. I conducted a survey myself with a sample size of 100 high school students from many local high schools and I found that 26% number to be roughly accurate. All of this is to say that there is a very real and very present problem in the state of Kentucky.

Unfortunately it is a problem that government officials most likely won’t do anything about. The gambling industry is a titan in the economic world. When Kentucky legalized sports betting in 2023, the state collected 15 million dollars from taxes on sports betting alone, which more than doubled to 39 million in 2024 according to rg.org, a statistics website. If you were to zoom out and look at the United States as a whole, the national gross gaming revenue in 2023 was 66.65 billion dollars generated to boost the economy. With numbers this big it is highly unlikely that government officials on either a state or federal level will do something to curb the gambling epidemic. So then what do we do?

The Solution

When faced with a hopeless problem the best thing to do is to ask for help. If enough people gather around this problem, write to their congressmen and their governors, spread awareness, and actually do something about it, then we can stop this epidemic. If one needs to solve the problem on a more personal level, addiction of any kind can be beaten with a good support system. It is unlikely that the government will step in. This amount of money being moved around is very tempting for anybody, let alone those in power. So please, write to those in power and urge them to make a change for the better. If you or someone you know are suffering from a gambling addiction, please seek help. The national gambling addiction hotline is 1-800-GAMBLER.