Fall 1996

International Gaming and Wagering Business reported spending on all forms of legal gambling in the U.S. at $550.4 billion in 1995, an increase of 14% over 1994. Total revenue or the consumer loss was $44.4 billion, an increase of 11.4% over 1994.

What a Billion Dollars Would Buy*
To help you get an idea of how much a billion dollars is, consider the following examples:

• A billion dollars would buy 2,000,000,000 soft drinks (12 ounce can). This would equal one can per day for one year for everyone in the seven western states of Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

• A billion dollars would buy 775,193,798 gallons of gas. This would provide enough gas for the entire population of the six Northeast states (Maine: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut) to visit San Francisco and return home, traveling the slightly more than 3,000 miles in groups of four averaging 25 miles per gallon.

• A billion dollars would buy 318,471,337 fast food meals of a hamburger, french fries and soft drink or one meal for every person in the U.S. with money left over for dessert.

Now, estimate how many of the following items a billion dollars would buy:

___ Pairs of jeans for ___
___ Baseball hats for ___
___ Inline skates for ___

Per capita spending in the U.S. ___
Per capita loss in the U.S. ___

*Taken from Improving Your Odds: A curriculum about winning losing and staying out of trouble with gambling. Minnesota Institute of Public Health, Anoka, Minnesota, 1996.