Types of Costs

• Job loss
• Loss of productivity
• Unemployment benefits
• Welfare benefits
• Poor physical and mental health
• Treatment
• Bankruptcy
• Arrests
• Imprisonment
• Legal fees

Societal Costs Nationally*

Annual costs:
For each pathological gambler	$1,200
For each problem gambler	$715
Total annual national costs	$1,915

Lifetime costs:
For each pathological gambler	$10,550
For each problem gambler	$5,130
Total annual national costs	$15,680

Total annual costs of problem and pathological gambling:

$5 billion

Washington State Costs** (1998)

An estimate of the total costs of Problem and Pathological Gambling for Washington state, annual and lifetime, can be obtained by multiplying the national cost per gambler times the average number of Problem and Pathological Gamblers in the state.

Annual costs:
Total costs resulting from pathological gambling	$24,900,000
Total costs resulting from problem gambling	$54,482,000
Total annual cost to Washington	$79,382,000

Lifetime costs:
Total costs resulting from pathological gambling	$218,912,500
Total costs resulting from problem gambling	$383,724,000
Total annual cost to Washington	$602,636,500

* Source: Final Report of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, 1999.
** Washington state cost estimates based on cost estimates from the Final Report of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission and the mid-range of problem and pathological gamblers from Gambling and Problem Gambling in Washington State: A Replication Study, 1992-1998.