The Spotted Ball, a True Story by Larry Cohen c 2025
Chapter 22
“Here, they really mean it”
One time I found myself at a roulette table surrounded by the usual run-of-the-mill roulette players. I observed no “high rollers” nor those with any special love for the game since they wandered in and out, some walking over to the Blackjack Tables that were placed nearby.
A fellow sitting next to me, a bit older and slightly heavier than I was at the time, leaned over and in a voice a little louder than a whisper asked me “…if I knew the difference between those praying in church and those praying here.” I just shook my head and muttered “uh uh?” Without opening my mouth, I gave an additional “hmmm” indicating that I had no idea of the difference. He answered with, “Here, they really mean it.” I gave him a nervous laugh, played a few more spins. cashed in my sparse winnings and left the table. And, then, I left the casino.
.
This player’s theoretical question (and answer) had shaken me up a bit. I began thinking back to all of the players I had ever encountered and wondered if they all were praying to a Higher Power of some sort. Thinking back to Santo Domingo, I remembered the Taiwanese players, and there were many, at the Embajador Hotel Casino would often form Chinese letters on the roulette game board. I was told the letters had some kind of religious significance. The numbers beneath the Chinese letter formations were of secondary concern. These young men, most waiting for their entry visas into the United States, would gamble hundreds of dollars on a single spin. Often the casino bosses would knock off some of the chips from their bets since they had exceeded the table limits. Gambling seemed to be a part of Chinese culture. But, unless strictly prohibited, gambling seems to be a part of every culture. For example, local churches would hold regular Bingo nights to raise money. Raffle tickets are as common as salt and pepper and the so-called “Fifty-Fitty” raffles are held by many not-for-profit organizations in order to raise funds.
In the United States, with the exception of Hawaii, every American now lives within a three hour drive of a casino. In South Dakota, any American Indian owned store can install a few slot machines and call itself a “Casino”. And, there are plenty of them! When President Ronald Reagan signed the Indian Gaming and Wagering Act IGWA) in 1986, I don’t think he had any idea of what he had unleashed. Those that fought the hardest to defeat the act before it became law were, naturally, those companies who were already well established in the gambling business in places such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. They fought hard but eventually lost. If the idea of IGWA was to somehow compensate the American Indians for what we Europeans had taken from them, in my view, it was a poor form of compensation. Allow me to provide just one example that I can speak to with certainty.
In Central New York State there are approximately 1100 Oneida Indians. In 1994, under the leadership of their Chief, they opened a casino. With profits averaging about $ 1 million a day, every single Oneida Indian should be a millionaire several times over by now. But, they are not. The few at the top of the Indian owned gambling business are responsible for doling out the profits to the rest of the 1100. Egalitarianism is not a part of their “doling out” The Federal and State governments have no control over how the profits are to be shared and shared equally they are not. The same form of unequal distribution of wealth takes place all across the continental United States in Indian controlled casinos. If the purpose were to raise the living standard of the American Indians, to some extent, IGWA has succeeded. But what it has truly raised is the living standards of those at the top, and if my readers will forgive me, at the top of the Totem Pole.
To be continued…