A survey by the Consumer Federation of America found that 27 percent of respondents said their best chance of accumulating a half million dollars or more during their lifetimes was at blackjack, lottery or sweepstakes win.
Fast-forward to 2005, when market expectations are far humbler. The worldwide gaming industry has soared: Two-thirds of adult Americans in a Gallup poll this year said they had gambled in the previous 12 months, and U.S. lottery players spent $49 billion in 2004.
Despite the astronomical odds of winning, about half of all adult Americans play state lotteries, according to another Gallup poll released last year.
Players reported they spend an average of $19 a month, while the lowest-income group--those earning $20,000 or less--spent the highest monthly average, at $46.
But those estimates may be low. Based on sales data from the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, Americans spend $183--or $15 a month--on a per-capita basis. That suggests average spending by those who actually play blackjack or lotteries would be substantially higher.
Financial planners often hear about the perceived pointlessness of slow savings directly from clients, who like to gamble instead.
Cooper sees rising gambling losses on client tax returns, as poker and online gaming become more socially acceptable with young and old alike.
The allure and current popularity of blackjack and online gaming is particularly devastating to the young, he said, while casinos eat up retirement savings of the elderly.
"You can't escape it today," he said. "This is the first generation growing up with legalized gambling everywhere."
Experts say there is no particular percentage of income spent on gambling that signals that it has become a problem, only when it interferes with the rest of your financial life. Planners urge players to think of the money spent as an entertainment cost in their monthly budget, not as an investment. When entertainment expenses start to creep too high, it's time to stop.
And then there is Jean Scott, confounding all the sober warnings about the havoc gambling can wreak on personal finances.
The 66-year-old retired English teacher from Indianapolis studied Las Vegas like a textbook, learning how to count cards for blackjack and where to go for all the best complimentary food and hotel stays. She learned well enough, in fact, to write a few books about collecting freebies and managing gambling receipts for tax purposes.
She is known in Vegas circles as the "Queen of Comps," and says she spends almost nothing on day-to-day expenses. She and husband, Brad, spent more than half of one year in free hotel rooms.
She now owns a condo in Vegas, but still receives plenty of hotel comps for visiting friends and relatives and other comps for everything from gas to groceries. She claims to have almost $1 million in the bank, not from huge gambling wins but from little wins over time and from never having to spend much money on living expenses.
"We have a peanuts budget but we live like millionaires," she said.
Asked about her investing strategies for her winnings, Scott has the answer that chills financial planners and gambling counselors alike:
"I don't do nearly as well at investing as gambling."