Author: Matt Pelc | Article Posted at: January 21, 10 - 11:13 am

North Carolina Fastest Growing Gambling State

The state most well known for gambling?

Easy you say, Nevada.

Nope.

Alright then it is surely New Jersey, home of Atlantic City, right?

Wrong again.

Give up?

The state of North Carolina that is most known for tobacco and terrific college basketball took over the reigns of the fastest-growing state for gambling revenue during the year of 2009.

Shocked? The citizens of the Tar Heel State are not as they have seen their lottery revenue increase 23 percent from 2008, the sixth-largest revenue in the United States.

The real winners were the pupils in the North Carolina school system. With many states promising lottery dollars to go to schools and then it gets siphoned off for other sources during the recession, the public schools in the state received $570 million in 2009, up from $462 million in 2008.

North Carolina has several casinos as well, including the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino owned by the Eastern Band. Half of the profits go to the state government with the other half going to the Native American tribe.

The revenue stream would be even more if the survey took into account sweepstakes, which many be seen as an event with a predetermined winner rather than a game of chance.

There is litigation currently underway to determine whether or not it is gambling. Many companies that create the computers for the sweepstakes describe it not as gambling so they do not need to jump through the same hoops as other gambling sources and thus can put their machines in bars, bowling alleys and other establishments.

While North Carolina is the fastest growing state in the nation, Nevada, of course, and California are in the lead in total revenue.

North Carolina supplanted Alaska, which earned the distinction in 2008, as the fastest growing state.

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