This fact sheet uses the 2023 Gambling Module of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data to examine gambling in California and associated health behaviors and risks to inform future regulatory approaches and public health interventions.

Findings: Of 7.2 million California adults who reported gambling in the past year, 6.7% (488,000) reported they had symptoms of problem gambling. Adults who reported any gambling in the past year also reported other types of behaviors associated with increased risk of poor health outcomes, including binge drinking (24.4%), smoking (7.2%), use of e-cigarettes or vapes (6.4%), and substance use (2.4%). Nearly one-fourth (24.9%) of adults with symptoms of problem gambling also reported experiencing serious psychological distress in the past year, compared with 13.5% of gambling adults without symptoms of a gambling problem.