Maggie Dougherty
a man with short hair is silhouetted against the glow of video gambling machines
Julia Rendleman for Capitol News Illinois

The human cost of Illinois’ gambling boom

Gambling in Illinois used to mean a trip to a riverboat, a racetrack, or the lottery counter. Now it's in restaurants and gas stations — and on the phone in your pocket. Illinoisans lost more than $7.7 billion gambling last year, and a third of that money flows to state government.

But a recent investigation — "Addicted to gambling in Illinois," a joint project of the Illinois Answers Project and Capitol News Illinois — found the state invests relatively little in helping the hundreds of thousands of residents estimated to have a gambling problem.

Brian Mackey talks with reporters Casey Toner and Maggie Dougherty about what they found, from a Metropolis gas station that's taken in more than $223 million to the gap between gambling revenue and treatment funding. They're joined by Jimmy M., who has been in recovery from compulsive gambling for more than a decade and hosts the podcast Gambling Recovery: Take Back Your Life.

If you or someone you know is struggling, Illinois' helpline is 1-800-GAMBLER.

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