Most gamblers die broke, which is probably their own affair.
But according to testimony last week before the Senate
Subcommittee on Investigations, gambling is also expensive
to the nongambling citizen who has never filled an inside straight or
placed a bet with a bookie. Appearing as a subcommittee witness, U.S. Internal Revenue Commissioner
Mortimer Caplin estimated that $25 billion in income goes unreported
every year—and a healthy slice of the money is earned from gambling.
Subcommittee Chairman John McClellan concluded that if all gambling
income were reported, the U.S. Treasury would be at least $5 billion
richer . Professional Card and Dice
Expert John Scarne raised those calls far higher; he guessed that
illegal off-track betting alone totals $50 billion a year , and in addition
payoffs to lawmen amount to $750 million. Said Scarne: “All you need is
a phone to be in the bookie business.” Beginning a probe into the scope of U.S. gambling, the McClellan
subcommittee found itself fascinated by the gimmicks that technical
ingenuity has brought to the play of cards and dice. One knowledgeable
witness was beefy, sweaty Paul Karnov. 48, co-owner of Chicago's
moneymaking K. C. Card Co. Karnov introduced himself as “a manufacturer of
perfect dice”; but he admitted that he devoted 21 pages of his
catalogue to what he blandly called “trick dice or gaffed dice.”
Growled Arkansas Democrat McClellan: “The more com mon expression is
crooked dice, isn't it?” Muttered Karnov: “I guess so.” But crooked dice are as old as gambling. For the subcommittee's
edification, investigators carted in a remarkable range of more
advanced products that help take the guesswork out of gambling. Among
the latest and kinkiest wrinkles: ∙ $350 “radio cue prompter,” consisting of a radio transmitter and
receiver , designed especially
for efficient partnership card play. With this transmitter strapped to
his leg, a gambler can send undetected a coded series of electric impulses,
guide his partner on the betting. ∙ Specially treated contact lenses that are almost
undetectable. Tinted red, the lenses can catch card markings that the naked eye
would miss. Senator Karl Mundt tried on a pair of similarly treated,
standard-size glasses, solemnly warned his colleagues: “Beware the
red-eyed gambler.” ∙ A special magnet that can be worn inside trousers, also for use
in partnership operations. While one gambler tosses dice in which metal
dust has been worked into the paint spots, his partner stands at the
other end of the table, controlling the spots by imperceptible body
movements. ∙ An ultramodern, $75 version of the old “holdout” machine that fits on
the arm, slips needed cards down the sleeve into the wearer's hand at
the flick of a muscle.
