Casino gambling is allowed in some 23 states, and 37 states operate their own lotteries. There are few sources to take a moral counter-position, especially given the sizable church and state gambling proceeds from bingo and lotteries. Gambling stories don't easily fit within the established beats of most newspapers. The baffling figures and promoter hyperbole are enough to confuse even the most seasoned of business reporters. It's understandably hard to be editorially critical of an industry which promises so much development, so many jobs, so much profit.
Media everywhere run stories of huge Vegas jackpots as straight news.
It's well documented that gambling is economically regressive, with poorer people gambling a disproportionate share of their income. The poor grab at a long-shot opportunity to break out of their ensnaring poverty and pay a higher price for it. My files hold many stories on the abuses and shortcomings of the California lottery. I'd be happy to lose.