In the 1990s, several states attempted to rejuvenate local economies through gambling. Previously sleepy towns such as Deadwood, South Dakota, and Gary, Indiana, suddenly became home to glitzy Las Vegas–style casinos. In each of these towns there was considerable debate over how legalized gambling would affect the community. These debates continue years after the casinos have opened.

In 1991, voters in Tunica County, Mississippi—then one of the poorest counties in the United States—approved casino gambling in the hopes of generating some much-needed revenue. Tunica’s first casino opened in 1992, and ten others soon followed.

The economic effect gambling has had on Tunica has been astonishing. The casinos have generated more than fourteen thousand jobs. Taxes on the casinos bring the county more than $36 million a year. So far that money has been used to build...