ALTHOUGH IT WAS thriving in the West, gambling seemed to be moving in the other direction in the rest of the United States. Because gambling often was accompanied by violence and drinking, more and more people were speaking out against it as immoral. Supported by civic and church leaders, opponents were able to put a great deal of pressure on lawmakers to ban or limit gambling in its various forms.

"An archaic trait"

Lotteries had already been banned from every state in the eastern half of the country. Horse racing had been limited to a handful of states, and the betting that went with it had been outlawed in most of those states. Under public pressure, the gambling houses and casinos that had become popular in cities like New Orleans, New York, and Washington, D.C...