That was a question on many people's lips, as the Mega Millions record jackpot level recently sent Nevadans flooding over state lines to wait in line to buy tickets in Arizona or California. As the nation's long-time gaming mecca, it might seem strange that a form of gambling that's permitted in lots of places where Vegas-style casinos aren't, is outlawed here, but in fact the ban is because of those very same casinos, although that wasn't the case originally.
Back during the 19th-century gold and silver rushes around these parts, mining and gambling went hand-in-hand and everything from street hustles to green-felt tables were an established part of life here. But the Wild West lifestyle was not without its opponents, and when the territorial bill of 1861 brought Nevada into being, it also declared any form of gambling a felony. This included lotteries, which were specifically outlawed three years later by Article 4, Section 24 of the Nevada Constitution, which was ratified by popular vote and provides that "no lottery shall be authorized by this state nor may lottery tickets be sold." That's about as unambiguous as you can get, although previous penalties were now relaxed somewhat, with convicted operators receiving mild punishments and players none at all.
Then, in 1869, the Nevada State Legislature overrode the Governor's veto and finally succeeded in decriminalizing certain forms of gambling, which remained legal until another wave of anti-gaming sentiment at the national level saw the practice banned in Nevada once more, in 1909.
Over the coming years, however, gaming laws would relax, starting with the acceptance of certain social games and what were called "nickel-in-the-slot machines" that paid out drinks, cigars, and sums of less than $2. By 1919, all cities and counties throughout Nevada were licensing card rooms that permitted games such as bridge and whist, and by the the 1920s, Reno had become the state's gambling capital and home to numerous legal (not to mention plenty of illegal) card rooms.
The Great Depression proved to be the final arbiter in the pro/anti-gambling debate, with the need for state revenue outweighing any moral objections to see the passing of Assembly Bill 98 in 1931 that allowed for "wide-open gambling" and paved the way for the kinds of modern casinos we know now.
While lotteries had originally been outlawed under the same legislation that barred other forms of gambling, as the years passed and brick-and-mortar casinos became the norm in Nevada, those casino interests now did not want competition from a rival form of wagering. Hence, ironically, as Nevada became the nation's undisputed gambling capital, the one form of gaming that was often tolerated in other states remained banned, even down to the level of church raffles.
Since 1975, the Legislature has considered a lottery resolution at almost every session, with proponents making the case for how the resultant revenue could fund healthcare, or education, or numerous other under-funded necessities. Every attempt has failed, however, aside from in 1990, when Nevada voters passed a Constitutional amendment that allowed charities to conduct small fundraising lotteries, and even these are required to be regulated by the Nevada Gaming Commission and State Gaming Control Board.
As then President of the Nevada Resort Association, Bill Bible, put it when he testified against yet another attempt to introduce a lottery back in 2007: "We are concerned about funding this measure that will create a competitive situation where the state becomes the competitor to the state's principal industry -- gaming. There will be a drop-off in gambling and other revenues if you implement a lottery in Nevada." Or so the argument goes.
Hence, although it's been estimated that a Nevada lottery would bring in anywhere from $30 million to $70 million a year or more, the powerful interests rooting against such a development, which also include groups concerned with gambling addiction and other social ills, will likely keep any state lottery at bay for the foreseeable future.
