58 million Americans have hidden money loss from loved ones
A new national survey by VIP Grinders estimates that 58 million American adults have hidden a gambling loss from a partner or family member. The poll of 2,000 U.S. adults who gamble determined that only 43 percent of respondents have never concealed such a loss from someone close to them.
Gender differences appear in both the frequency of concealment and the amounts involved. Forty-five percent of men reported hiding a loss compared with 37 percent of women. Thirteen percent of men said they had lost more than $5,000 in a single session or day, while the corresponding share among women was 5 percent.
Younger adults show markedly higher rates of concealment. Fifty-eight percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 reported hiding a loss at least sometimes. The rate remained elevated among those aged 35 to 44 at 49 percent. Among adults aged 55 and older the figure fell to 20 percent.
The top 10 states for the share of gamblers who have hidden a loss at least sometimes, according to the VIP Grinders survey, are Mississippi at 59.1 percent, Nevada at 58.3 percent, Louisiana at 55.9 percent, Colorado at 54.5 percent, New Jersey at 50.9 percent, South Carolina at 50.0 percent, Kentucky at 49.0 percent, Tennessee at 48.9 percent, Texas at 48.4 percent and Virginia at 47.8 percent. The U.S. average stands at 40.4 percent.
Joao Mourato, Head of iGaming Product at VIP Grinders, commented that hiding a money loss from someone loved is more common than most people assume and is not limited to states traditionally associated with gambling. He noted that Mississippi, Colorado and Louisiana show very high rates of secrecy and that the pattern is strongest among younger people and men. Mourato added that a hidden loss rarely stays a one-off and can quietly build into a bigger problem harder for the individual and family to see.
Granular frequency data show that 21.2 percent of U.S. gamblers always or often hide losses from loved ones, while another 19.2 percent do so sometimes. Only 42.5 percent said they never conceal losses.
Breakdowns by gender and age reveal further patterns. Among men, 25.3 percent always or often hide losses compared with 17.8 percent of women. By age, 32.4 percent of those 18 to 24 and 34.6 percent of those 25 to 34 always or often conceal losses, while the share among respondents aged 55 and older is 8.3 percent.
State rankings for habitual concealment, defined as always hiding losses, place Mississippi first at 22.7 percent, followed by Louisiana at 14.7 percent and South Carolina at 12.5 percent. The survey was conducted by Censuswide on behalf of VIP Grinders via online panel between May 5 and 7, 2026, among 2,000 U.S. adults who have gambled, with state-level figures described as indicative.
The 58 million national estimate applies the survey finding that 40.4 percent of gamblers have hidden a loss at least sometimes to the 53 percent of U.S. adults who report gambling in the past year, drawn from a Gallup web survey, and the Census Bureau estimate of 269.8 million adults.
