The big gamble: Utahns support gaming in both word and deed

Others among the top six lottery sites in Idaho are: La Tienda in Franklin (near Logan), $1.88 million in 2004 sales; Top Stop Chevron in Malad, $1.25 million; LW's Chevron in Malad, $831,854; Betty's Lounge in Malad, $681,330; and Glady's Place in Fish Haven, just over the border on Bear Lake, $675,437.

The tiny Idaho border towns of Malad, Franklin, Fish Haven, Preston and Weston have a combined population of only 7,900 people. But they sell 8.5 percent of all lottery tickets in Idaho — a state with a population of 1.37 million — thanks to the help of Utahns.

Those border towns sold $1,080 worth of lottery tickets per resident in 2004. For all of Idaho, the state sold about $80 in lottery tickets per resident.

Of note, the Idaho Lottery says it has provided more than $275 million to that state since it began in 1989. Half goes to its public schools, and half goes to the Permanent Building Fund.

Based on last year's data about border sales, it appears Utahns contributed possibly 8.5 percent of that profit — or about $23 million. Only 22 percent of the total amount gambled ends up going to the state as profit — so Utahns may have spent more than $106 million on the Idaho lottery since it began in 1989.

On the plus side, a 1998 study conducted for the National Gambling Impact Study Commission found no correlation between gambling problems and lotteries. "It does not appear that the availability of a lottery has an impact on (problem gambling) prevalence rates," it reports.

The lottery is not the only gambling available in Idaho. The state also offers pari-mutuel betting on horse races, and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe operates a casino on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation near Pocatello.

Liberty Toledo, with the tribe, says that 25 percent of all Fort Hall Casino patrons who have signed up for "Buffalo Club cards" are from Utah. "Our Buffalo Club card is a players incentive program where players can earn points for their play and redeem those points for cash and other items," she said.

However, she estimates that only 5 percent of the casino's total business comes from Utah. But it advertises heavily on radio and TV in Salt Lake City. "We spend approximately 18 percent of our advertising budget in Utah. This percentage is high because of the increased advertising rates in that market," she said.

The new Morning News poll shows that 12 percent of Utahns have gambled in Indian casinos at one time or another, including 5 percent who did last year.