Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has a constituency of problem gamblers.

Welcome to California, home of Silicon Valley, silicone breast implants, wine makers, and now, gamblers with a big problem.

A recent major study on gambling in the United States reveals an overwhelming majority of Californians are gamblers — especially, pathological gamblers for life.

The Office of Problem Gambling (OPG) this week reported that 83% of adults in California have gambled at some point in their lives. It is a highlight of the most comprehensive study ever conducted thus far on the US gambling problem.

California is the most populous state of the US, with residents estimated at 37,172,015 as of 2006. The OPG study found that some 750,000 to 1.2 million California adults — residents aged 18 and up — are pathological or problem gamblers.

Between 296,500 and 490,000 California adults are classified as lifetime pathological gamblers, the OPG study discovered further. Between 450,000 and 713,400 adult Californians have significant gambling problems, but which do not meet the study’s criteria for pathological gambling.

California’s gambling problem is due in large part to people’s tendency to aspire for material wealth. This had taken root in as early as 1848, with the California Gold Rush. It triggered an economic boom that comfortably evolved to Hollywood and entertainment, tourism, aerospace, oil, computers and information technology. Since 1848, California has never really stopped feeling wealthy.

The OPG study, conducted between 2005 and 2006, unveils lottery, or the Lotto, as California’s gambling activity of choice. The California State Lottery began in November 1984, and in June 2005, the state became the 12th to join the Mega Millions multi-state lottery.

Casinos are Californians’ preferred place to gamble, says the OPG study, while their biggest gambling losses take place in poker card rooms and Internet gaming. Most notable are Native American Indian casinos, which in 2002 generated a nationwide revenue of $14.5 billion, from 354 establishments.

The West Coast represents the fastest growing sector of Indian casino gaming. California is the US state with the most number of Indian tribes, 43 of which operate a gambling facility. Pechanga Resort and Casino, an Indian casino, is the largest hotel in California. The state’s Indian casinos make an annual revenue of $5.1 billion, and have the support of Schwarzenegger.

In addition, California has far more major professional sports league franchises, at 15, than any other US state. The San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the like, offer Californians far more reasons to engage in sports betting. Not only that, betting the horses is just as enticing as California is home to the Santa Anita, Del Mar, Hollywood Park, Bay Meadows, and other horse race tracks, plus Oak Tree Racing Association.

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