European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 20, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ricardo Escorpizo works the craps table at a Baum older Germany no club. 5&s Dave Didio vegas style gaming flourishing overseas is amps Effie Bathon Ronald Askew a mall clerk won a $20,000 Bingo Jackpot at the officers club in Furth Germany. By Chuck Roberts staff writer Slot machines Aren t the Only games in town. On weekend nights across Europe military clubs Are turned into mini Las vegas casinos Complete with Blackjack poker craps Roulett and Chuck a Luck. No showgirls perhaps but plenty o Opportunity to win big a or lose big. These Monte Carlo nights Are conducted by civilian concessionaires who work under contracts arranged b military authorities. The proceeds Are usually split 50-5< the club and the concessionaire. Then there a Bingo and More Bingo. Not just sedate Blue haired ladies at Church Bingo but major league Bingo. The kind of Bingo where a Soldier can win two be pay in one game. The kind where you can spend severs Hundred dollars a night. Many of the 300-Odd military clubs in Europe regular Hoff Bingo nights often twice a week while about 50 a and air Force clubs conduct Casino style events local governments search for ways to raise revenues m 9rt0 "k"1 by or Valerie loren2 executive dire for the National Center for pathological gambling states now have a theries compared to in 14 in 1980. Legal gambling is increasing at 10 percent ass re heartland. Iowa Illinois even Deadwood  there is definitely an expansionist climate Quot said Page 14 the stars and stripes. I nere s never been anything like the a he told Cox news service. A Gay Hub mis. The growth Means More gambling related personal problems Lorenz said. The percentage of adult gamblers classified As compulsive a mental disorder has increased from less than 1 percent in 1976 to about 3 percent she said. Among teenagers there has been a dramatic increase from virtually none in 1979 to 4 percent a decade later. For Charlotte Bennett and Many others in Europe Bingo and the slots Are ways to pass the time while spouses Are in the Field. That was How she became a regular at the Woodland club in Giessen Germany about two years ago. There s just not a lot of outlets for things to do Quot said Bennett a school teacher who plays Bingo about four times a week. She said the language Barrier prevents her and Many others from venturing out. Quot its the Only source of recreation i have in Germany Quot Bennett said As she played the slots during a Lull Between Bingo games. At the machine beside her was cop Elena Austin who said Bingo fills her time while her husband is in saudi Arabia. Both women joked that they lose More than they win. But not Mary Fitzgerald a Bingo Veteran who said she has broken even in the past 10 years although she plays As Many As 12 cards simultaneously Fitzgerald insists that Bingo is a form of relaxation. Fitzgerald spent $7.50 for the nine cards per game she was playing on this night at the Woodland club. Players also can buy a package of cards for about $100 at some clubs. Fitzgerald said the most she has won in one name was $1,000. Minnie far surpassed that the first time she played Bingo i made the big mistake of winning a car in Bingo and that got me hooked on the game Quot said Minnie a compulsive Gambler who did not want her last name used. When she and her husband arrived in Germany she tried Slot machines out of boredom. Again she struck Gold on her first Outing when she hit the Jackpot. After that i  Stop. There was nothing like it Quot she said. But the winning did no to continue and she began an endless Pursuit of trying to win Back enough Money to break even. She eventually stole Money from her office to pay her debts. For spec. Ronald Pero of the 12th inf regt in aum Holder Germany Bingo at the Pathfinder club is a Good Way of not doing something else. It s a Way to kill time without getting drunk a change of Pace Pero said. Quot we Are in the infantry. Every now and then we have to do something kind of  his Friend pvt. Joseph Duell was t having much Luck on this particular evening but said he won $1,500 playing Bingo at the new York state fair. Getting Rich is not the purpose for having Bingo or Monte Cario nights said Woodland club manager Ray Brown. He said they Are provided As  of entertainment and a Way to increase food and drink profits by enticing people to come to the club. A the Woodland club makes about $2,000 each month trom Bingo sales and about $3,000 for two goods nights of Monte Carlo. A a the Bailey family has been running Casino style events on military installations in Germany for nearly two decades. As Renate Bailey and her son Thomas watched Over their a amps Dave Didio the poker and Blackjack tables were full this night in Baum older Germany y Slot machine Enue by area Italy $1.11 Panama $1.11 is in millions i year 1989_an $1,46 Turkey $0.i&i a amps Sharon Kilday Christiansen a new York based gambling it Quot its the most widespread gambling legalization tables on a weekend night recently in Giessen d about How the business has changed wakening Dollar Means that soldiers and their have less Money to spend. Thomas Bailey said their customers spend Only about $20 for a night of ent. Ailey said that her husband James was one of the no concessionaires when he got into the business ago. Now there Are at least seven individuals or hips vying for club business in Europe Sion Aires no longer negotiate their own deals with a in the Case of the army All contracts Are and through the . Army Europe contracting Frankfurt. Creased Competition and the growing number of Means that clubs and Casino night operators must More aggressive marketers. Success can depend Erthe troops Are in the Field the amount of Long and if the club is offering other forms of Rentto lure customers. A Sion Aires Bob totes and. Ralph Mcclair who wore than 60 events a year in Europe said profits ge50 percent if a unit suddenly is sent to the Field o  events at enlisted clubs Are a safer bet if Point of View. Or clubs Are detrimental to your health without p Graim held with Monte Carlo night Quot Toles said. Mangel Deputy chief of the Usa eur contracting a on Essie Aires k d for contracts which Are one year but can be awarded on a one time inhmhtin9 0ffice arran9es a contract for a Monte Ora mris ame Way would if ordering paint Orji. Fry Community said Harold j. Moore chief Ihn Ini a a tracking division. He said his office hip la a nation t10 concessionaires provide him roses who wil1 Best provide a Monte Carlo Bottom line is we do it by the Book Quot Moore said. Military no More Slot machine graft Baychuc Roberts staff writer the military says it will never happen again. The graft and corruption that forced the army and air Force to abandon Slot machines for 10 the ,ri0t r0�ccur�?Tinsist those who manage Nita a say urn he sl01 machine t0 the military in 1981 was accompanied by Security guidelines that Are virtually foolproof. Thinni5 acts Oey impossible t0 steal from one of those in 9f a 0a 9 co1 James k. Wiles director of the k finn re and recreation system for the air Force in Europe. You would have to set up the most incredible web of manipulation to pull off theft from one of those  but in gambling As in War perhaps nothing should be considered impossible. Nevada gaming experts warn thieves 3 constant strug9e a stay ahead of would be people stay up nights just thinking of ways to steal Quot said Stewart Olsen the Deputy chief auditor of the a Nevada state gaming commission. Quot when we find one Way they will find  what we be Learned Here in Nevada is that anytime that you think you be got everything under control All of a sudden something blows up in your face. You can t be complacent because that show things get out of control Quot Olsen said having issued that caveat Olsen gives the three military services generally High Marks for their Slot machine Security systems. He reviewed the Security regulations at the request of the stars and stripes. The military controls Are similar to those used in Nevada which is not surprising since the military conferred with the gaming Industry and machine manufacturers when drafting its regulations Back in 1981. The machines were brought Back to Heip finance the military club system and mar programs which had been Hurt when slots were banned in 1972. It had been disclosed in congressional hearings that army and air Force Slot machine programs had been Rife with graft. The Lack of internal controls had allowed club officials and others especially in Vietnam to Siphon off huge sums of Slot revenues today in both military and civilian systems there is a heavy Reliance on the technology of modern Slot machines to help limit tampering. Slots have come a Long Way from the relatively primitive mechanical devices in use in Many places even into the 1970s a machines that could be manipulated simply by the Way the handle was pulled. Today a machines Are essentially computers. They have electronic meters tracking the number of coins dropped in the number and amount of jackpots the number of times the door has been opened and other data. Monitoring the information for each machine gives auditors Good control of the Money that should be in each one auditors say. The military requires More than one key for the Cash Box which Means it takes at least two and sometimes three people to empty a machine. The army and air Force told the stars and stripes that these safeguards have allowed them to account for All the Money put into Slot machines since 1981. Olsen however noted that criminals have a Way of keeping Pace with sophisticated Security devices. Some he said will deliberately Jam a Slot machine so that a repairman will be summoned. While the repairman is opening the machine the thief a an expert in key making a will memorize the shape of the key used by the repairman then go to the car and make a copy. That might not get him to the Cash Box but he will have Access to the inside of the machine. In a More sophisticated technique an insider will replace the computer Chip that tells the machine How much Money to keep and How much to pay out to customers pocketing the difference. Then there Are the less Subtle forms of tampering such As a Small portable Drill hidden in a coat sleeve. Or even a Hammer. These can be used to Force open the machine or to interfere with the Normal payoff rates provided there is no tilt feature on the machine. But Olsen warned that the effectiveness of sophisticated control systems will be diluted without a Good auditing system. He praised the air Force for its advanced metering systems but questioned Why there has not been a formal audit the past three years. Quot they might think they re working Good Quot Olsen said of the monitoring devices Quot but if you done to go out and Check to see if they re working it s kind of hard to make statements like you never had any Money stolen from  he said his office conducts formal audits about every two years but also pays Surprise visits to casinos. Quot that a the Only Way to know if things Are working the Way they should be Quot Olsen said. Quot we Don t Trust them to do it we go out and make sure they re doing  a amps Lynda Davidson Thomas Bryant services a Slot machine at the Ramsten a officers a club. Many military mechanics Are trained by the Slot machine manufacturers. The stars and stripes a a a Page 15