The state of Nevada is clearly the primary gambling state in the United States. For almost half of the twentieth century it was the only state to permit casino gambling. Even today, nearly one-third of the casino gambling activity in the United States occurs in Nevada. The state has over 300 unrestricted casino license holders offering both table games and machine gaming, and 235 of these have gaming wins in excess of $1 million dollars per year. Another 2,000 restricted locations each have fifteen or fewer gaming machines. The casinos are found in each of the seventeen counties of the state and in every city of the state except for Boulder City – which was a federal enclave until the 1950s. No other North American jurisdiction allows such widespread locations for casinos; instead, most confine casinos to specific communities. The casinos produce revenues of approximately $8 billion per year from gambling and $6 billion more from other sources. The casinos employ nearly 200,000 persons, representing one-third of the employment in the state. The taxes from gambling and other aspects of casino enterprises constitute approximately half of the public revenues of the state and its local governments. No other jurisdiction in the world receives as large a share of its public budgets from gambling taxes.
Although casino gambling is found in all but one jurisdiction in the state, there are certain important concentrations of casinos in the state. Of course, the primary gaming center is the Las Vegas Strip, a four-mile-long section of Las Vegas Boulevard, which has 19 of the 20 largest hotels in the world – all with casinos. Downtown Las Vegas has a dozen large properties located around Fremont Street. The town of Laughlin on the Colorado River at the southern tip of the state has 10 casinos. In the northern part of the state, the traditional gaming city of Reno (and its suburb, Sparks) has 35 major casinos, and the Lake Tahoe resort area has 5.
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