Vincent said that an agency program - though not directed specifically at low-income residents - allows problem gamblers to sign up for a two-year or lifetime ban on playing the lottery. Combined with lottery sales, gambling now contributes more than $1 billion annually to the state. Four casinos have opened, generating $608.7 million in state revenue in fiscal 2013, with two more scheduled to open in Baltimore and Prince George’s County. The state legalized casino gambling in 2008. The study was commissioned by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and was required under the law that allowed casinos to open in Maryland. However, the findings are not a secret to Maryland officials: A 2011 state-funded study found that low-income residents, African-Americans and people with lower levels of education are more likely to gamble weekly on lottery games and in casinos than other Marylanders. Busch did not respond to interview requests. “Mike” Miller declined to comment through their spokespersons. Martin O’Malley and Maryland Senate President Thomas V. We’re a state agency and a business,” Vincent said. “It’s not something we analyze or look at,” Jackie Vincent, the director of gaming research and chief of staff at the gaming agency, said.Īgency officials say that their job is to raise revenue for the state, but they don’t set policy. Lottery officials said they do not know the reasons for the disproportionate spending from those communities. Baltimore City led the state in average dollars spent on lottery tickets per adult, followed by Charles County and Prince George’s County. The analysis also found more than a third of the revenue came from Prince George’s County and Baltimore City.

The Maryland Lottery has become the fourth largest source of revenue for the state, contributing $545 million last fiscal year, according to the lottery agency’s comprehensive financial report.īut a Capital News Service analysis found that lower-income ZIP codes contributed a disproportionate share. “We play to make some extra money,” said Chapman, 34, as he jotted down numbers on the back of a Keno ticket inside Hoffman’s Liquors on Park Heights Avenue. Yet people spent $34 million on lottery tickets here in calendar year 2012 - more than any other ZIP code in the state, a Capital News Service analysis found.Įvert Chapman, a truck driver from Park Heights, said he’s not surprised. It’s in one of Baltimore’s poorest ZIP codes, where the median household income is about $35,000. By LEJLA SARCEVIC, ETHAN BARTON and LAUREN MCLENDONīALTIMORE - Boarded-up homes, crumbling store fronts and police cameras with blue lights line the streets of Park Heights.

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