{"id":96868,"date":"2025-10-25T06:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T06:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/96868\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T06:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T06:16:11","slug":"gambling-boomtown-surges-towards-las-vegas-as-millions-roll-in-but-its-also-gripped-by-the-darkest-of-battles-many-will-never-recover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/96868\/","title":{"rendered":"Gambling boomtown surges towards Las Vegas as MILLIONS roll in. But it’s also gripped by the darkest of battles… many will never recover"},"content":{"rendered":"

A gambling boom has thrust a midwestern state to the forefront of Vegas alternatives – but the success comes at a devastating cost for locals.<\/p>\n

Iowa<\/a>‘s\u00a0gaming revenue increased by 4 percent to a whopping $151.2 million in August 2025 compared with the same month last year, the state’s Racing and Gaming Commission reported, while Las Vegas<\/a> has shown multiple signs of demise.<\/p>\n

Tom Coates, the president and co-founder of Consumer Credit of Des Moines, and a member of the Stop Predatory Gambling board, spoke to the Daily Mail about the true cost of Iowa’s success: addiction and spiraling debts.<\/p>\n

‘Many of the addicted gamblers are more prone to suicide,’ Coates said. ‘Even heroin addiction doesn’t drive as many that way as gambling does.’<\/p>\n

Coates founded his debt-counseling business in 1987 and said that he has helped more than 100,000 individuals and families recover financially.<\/p>\n

The Iowa native said that there were only two casino states in the early days –\u00a0New Jersey<\/a> and Nevada<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0and they were operating under what is called the ‘tourist model.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘That means that most of the casinos’ business in New Jersey and Nevada was coming from outside their immediate radius – tourists coming in, spending their money and then going back home.’<\/p>\n

Iowa, he explained, became the first in the union to deploy the ‘native model,’ a strategy where the 19-state licensed casinos make their profits from residents within 40 miles.<\/p>\n

\"Iowa's <\/p>\n

Iowa’s gaming revenue has increased by 4 percent this August compared with the same month in 2024, now at a whopping $151.2 million<\/p>\n

\"Harrah's <\/p>\n

Harrah’s in Council Bluffs is one of the casinos pulling in locals<\/p>\n

\"Sunset <\/p>\n

Sunset over Council Bluffs, Iowa. It is home to three casinos\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Once that worked out, many other states followed suit. In fact, that’s probably part of the reason that we had 40 high-paid lobbyists come in and lobby our legislators to be one of the early states to pass the sports gambling bill.’<\/p>\n

In the 1990s, the state asked Coates to oversee the 1-800-BETS-OFF hotline – a phone service for those struggling with gambling addiction.<\/p>\n

‘We went from a few dozen crisis calls a month to 300 to 400,’ he said.<\/p>\n

Coates outlined some of the more tragic stories he encountered while helping those using the hotline.<\/p>\n

He recalled a particularly harrowing case of a young wife and mother who had been out all night at the casinos gambling on the slots in the pre-cellphone era.<\/p>\n

The woman pulled into a gas station to call the hotline because she had not wanted to go home and ‘face the music.’<\/p>\n

‘She was driving on a back road looking for a deep ditch so that she could drive the car off of and kill herself, commit suicide,’ Coates said.<\/p>\n

\"Tom <\/p>\n

Tom Coates, the president and co-founder of Consumer Credit of Des Moines, and a member of the Stop Predatory Gambling board, explained the true cost of the increased gambling<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A particular hotspot in Iowa is Council Bluffs, where Harrah\u2019s, Ameristar and Horseshoe Casino are conveniently located near each other<\/p>\n

‘She said as she was looking for that deep ditch, the heavens opened up and an angel came down, sat beside her, and convinced her that this wasn’t the way to go.<\/p>\n

‘Her life was saved but many others have not been.’<\/p>\n

A 2024 Kindbridge Behavioral Health\u00a0<\/a>report that included a study from Rutgers University Center for Gambling Studies found gamblers were more likely than non-gamblers to have morbid thoughts, including an expressed desire to die.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also found that 28 percent of problem gamblers reported suicidal ideation, while 20 percent indicated that they had attempted suicide.<\/p>\n

‘Around the casinos,’ Coates said, ‘too many people still go and waste their money.<\/p>\n

‘If they just spent the money in their pocket, that’d be fine – but they run through that quickly and dip into their plastics [credit cards]. They rack up a lot of debt and they can’t repay it.<\/p>\n

‘It’s very sad to see some of these cases.’<\/p>\n

With the evolution of sports betting, Coates warned that gambling shows no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n

‘The younger generation is not interested in coming and sitting on a stool all night long,’ he said.<\/p>\n

\"Ameristar <\/p>\n

Ameristar Casino Hotel in Council Bluffs is in Pottawattamie County on the Missouri River<\/p>\n

\"Coates <\/p>\n

Coates said that the target audience for online gambling is young men but he has seen many women struggling with addiction\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Mary <\/p>\n

Mary Earnhardt, president and CEO of the Iowa Gaming Association, said: ‘Iowa\u2019s casinos have become premier and distinctive tourism attractions that draw visitors from across the Midwest and beyond’<\/p>\n

‘Casinos didn’t initially really want online gambling, sports gambling and everything but they saw the future and had to kind of hook up to it. By hooking up to it, I mean they understood that the online gambling was coming.<\/p>\n

‘So they’ve got to get some of their games up online and that’s the trend. There’s gonna be more online gambling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘The brick and mortars will be there mostly for other things but the online gambling is what’s coming – and fast action games that have nothing to do with physical sports, intentionally addictive. It already is a huge problem, and it’s gonna be a bigger one.’<\/p>\n

Many casinos in Iowa already mirror Las Vegas venues with live music, in-house restaurants and nightclubs.<\/p>\n

Mary Earnhardt, the president and CEO of the Iowa Gaming Association, told the Daily Mail why the industry is booming.<\/p>\n

‘Through ongoing reinvestment, our operators have created destinations that blend gaming with exceptional entertainment, dining, lodging, event experiences, and amenities,’ Earnhardt said.<\/p>\n

She went on to describe how investing in the economy of gambling enhances the overall experience but also strengthens Iowa\u2019s broader tourism economy.<\/p>\n

‘Each casino serves as an anchor for local tourism and economic growth. They draw visitors who extend their stays, explore nearby attractions and support local shops and restaurants.<\/p>\n

‘The industry\u2019s success translates directly into jobs, local tax revenues and economic strength across the state.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Iowa casino hub of Council Bluffs has almost half the crime rate of its rival, Las Vegas<\/p>\n

\"The\u00a0Prairie <\/p>\n

The\u00a0Prairie Meadows Casino Racetrack Hotel\u00a0in Altoona brought in $21.1 million in August<\/p>\n

Casinos contribute $1 billion annually to the state’s economy through salaries, sales of local products and services, charitable contributions and taxes, according to the Iowa Gaming Association.<\/p>\n

Thousands are employed in Iowa’s 19 casinos, including the Prairie Meadows Casino in Altoona, which recorded the highest income in August of $21.1 million.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of earnings come from slot machines, which brought in $136.7 million while table games collected $14.5 million.<\/p>\n

A particular hotspot is Council Bluffs, where Harrah\u2019s, Ameristar and Horseshoe Casino are located near each other\u00a0in Pottawattamie County on the Missouri River across from Omaha, Nebraska.<\/p>\n

The average nightly rates at the resorts and casinos in October range between $100 and $150 – far less than $209\u00a0a room at Caesars Palace in Sin City.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas recorded 4.56 million passengers for August – an almost 6 percent drop compared to the same month last year, according to Harry Reid International Airport. The city has lost around 300,000 visitors a month this year.<\/p>\n

The Bluffs is also a relatively safe place: it has a crime rate of 24.13 per 1,000 residents in a typical year while its competitor in Nevada has 39.17, according to Crime Grade<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A gambling boom has thrust a midwestern state to the forefront of Vegas alternatives – but the success…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[2039,163,85,46,20596,522,523,6958,18300,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-96868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-las-vegas","13":"tag-mental-health","14":"tag-mentalhealth","15":"tag-nevada","16":"tag-new-jersey","17":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}