Editorial: Congress’ myopia on gambling laws

Friday, May 12, 2000 | 9:45 a.m.

Naturally there has been plenty of media attention devoted to the Big Game lottery, whose Tuesday drawing resulted in two winners splitting $363 million, the biggest lottery prize ever in the United States. While there has been idle speculation on what the two could do with all that money, we haven't heard many members of Congress decrying the lottery's dark side. There were countless players who lost hundreds of dollars -- if not more -- from their wagers on this and past lotteries.

Don't get us wrong. States should decide for themselves whether they want a lottery, just as it should be Nevada's right to determine the type of gaming it wants. But therein lies the rub. While Congress doesn't give a whit about state governments creating compulsive gamblers through lotteries, it seriously is considering legislation by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would ban betting on college sports in Nevada casinos. Prohibition supporters say it would put a dent in illegal gambling on college campuses and better protect athletes from gamblers looking to fix games.

But the sports gambling ban is just feel-good legislation. The ban likely would be detrimental, driving sports betting underground, where it won't be regulated at all. If Congress sincerely was concerned about gambling's ill effects, it would first address state lotteries, which entice a gambler into making what truly is a sucker bet (the odds of winning the Big Game lottery were 76 million to 1.) But don't expect that to happen any time soon, though. Lotteries are too popular and they're too big a moneymaker for state governments, facts that expose Congress' hypocrisy in seeking to outlaw college sports betting in Nevada.