This paper investigates the influence of regional gambling culture on listed companies’ stock price crash risk from the perspective of lottery sales and finds that gambling culture will significantly exacerbate the company’s future stock price crash risk. Higher audit quality can effectively reduce the positive correlation between gambling culture and stock price crash risk relationship. These results are robust to controlling for endogeneity and alternative measure of gambling culture and stock price crash risk. Further analysis found that gambling culture mainly affects the company’s stock price crash risk through information asymmetry, tax avoidance and financial irregularities. The results of this paper not only helps us to fully understand the impact of gambling culture, but also expands the research on the determinants of stock price crash risk, and provides new empirical evidence for preventing stock price crash risk and promoting the healthy and orderly development of the capital market.