Dear Editor,

In its first six months legalized sports betting brought $3.5 million dollars in tax revenue to the state of Vermont. Except that Vermonters and visitors bet more than $100 million in that time period and the casinos paid out less than 90%. So $10 million left our economy and we got a $3.5 million return, and state Liquor and Lottery commissioner Wendy Knight is calling it a win.

We were robbed.

Our state government was bowled over by the gambling lobby and now vermonters are paying the price. $6.5 million left our economy with nothing to show for it except a public mental health program telling us to “gamble responsibly.” Our state representatives did not gamble responsibly when they opened the door to the absolute cancer that is sports betting.

This is a sad day for our state. We have gained nothing from legalized sports betting and our state regulators are nothing more than a mouthpiece for the sports betting industry.

Colin Graybuck

South Burlington