Gaming in Kentucky

There is a lot of talk in Kentucky about whether or not we should have expanded gaming. Whatever your opinion on expanded gaming, you may not know how huge gaming is in Kentucky right now. On Friday I attended a Licensing and Occupations Committee meeting where we received an update from the office of Charitable gaming. I was surprised at how much was wagered in 2007;

About $485 million was wagered on charitable gaming.

About $470 million was wagered on horse racing (yes, charitable gaming is larger that horse racing).

About $740 million was wagered on the Kentucky Lottery.

Now, I am putting these figures down from memory, so they are probably off a little here or there. But I do remember adding it all up at the committee meeting, and it was over $1.7 billion in 2007.

I found this very interesting and wanted to share it.