Vegas fun moves to heartland
By Connie L. Sheehan
Senior fcditor_
Win millions in prize money;
join gamblers from across the na
tion; play poker, Keno, dice and
bingo -- all promises from a travel
advertisement brochure for Las
Vegas, Nevada, right? Wrong.
Would you believe Macy,
Neb.?
Except for the obvious lack of
glitzy neon, the Omaha Nation
High Stakes Bingo and Casino has
brought Las Vegas-style gambling
to the plains of Nebraska.
Although only one building
occupies the new unlandscaped
site, two distinct varieties of
chance take place under the onc
acrc roof.
Players can choose between the
high-stakes bingo hall or the new
est addition, the Omaha Casino
Room, according to Tom Kuehl,
casino consultant
Kuehl, who supervised and
trained casino dealers in Reno,
said he would be glad to give any
one playing instructions for the
— ■■■■ I *
variety of games offered in the
casino room.
“The casino games and odds
are those found in Las Vegas or
Reno,” Kuehl said. Games in
clude Keno, Red Dog poker, a
money wheel, an Oriental dice
game similar to craps, called Sic
Bo, and blackjack.
But onlookers will notice some
slight differences from other casi
nos - blackjack dealers who call
numbers from bingo balls rather
than deal playing cards - because
state statutes don’t allow for the
use of playing cards to gamble.
Even though gambling is per
mitted on federal Indian reserva
tions, organizations still must
abide by state statutes.
Such restrictions created a few
problems but the casino temporar
ily has worked around these, he
said. A good example is substitut
ing ball numbers comparable to
the same cards used in a normal
game of blackjack.
Kuehl said a compact presented
to the legislature has requested
allowances in the gambling stat
i Ml
utes to include the use of playing
cards and video gambling.
The casino has video gambling
games silting in storage since the
state outlawed the video gambling,
Kuchl explained.
Outlawed video gambling
“hurt us revenue-wise, because
it’s revenue we anticipated hav
ing,” he said.
Revenue should pick up soon
with the addition of private parties
in the Omaha Casino Room, he
said. The casino will be available
for outside bookings any night of
the week.
On Fridays through Sundays,
the casino crowd contains bingo
widowers, husbands who bring
their wives to play but don’t play
bingo themselves.
But the casino also fills during
the bingo hall break with dedicated
fans rushing in to play Speed
Bingo, a quick form of three-num
ber bingo, he said. Quick is the
word, since bingo numbers come
flying at the player every ten sec
onds until bingo is called.
The numbers don’t come as
..... mm "'.r.-nri
quickly in the main bingo hall, but
it took this bingo-illiterate reporter
about two games to catch on to all
tricks in keeping up with the num
ber callers.
Beginners should arrive early
(check for starting times by calling
1-800-544-8954) to purchase
bingo packets.
The main bmgo hall holds 1800
players, so find a scat. A seat close
to one of the many number boards
might help the beginner. The
boards not only list the bingo
numbers but big red blocks show
the winning bingo pattern for that
game.
A regular evening includes 15
bingo games plus three to four
bonus games for cars or vacations.
But the game that creates the most
excitement is MegaBingo, a half
million dollar bingo game trans
mitted live via satellite from Tulsa,
Okla. to 17 bingo halls across the
country.
Approximately 10,000 people
throughout the United States play
the MegaBingo satellite game
according to Bill Gersuier, man
ager of the Omaha Nation Bingo
and Casino.
But the bingo hall pulls its own
international bingo crowd with a
long-haul bus prograjn that is
growing and brings bingo players
from as far away as Canada and
Houston, Gerstnei said.
On “Super” weekends, the bus
crowd literally takes over because
of the huge jackpots and additional
chances to win big prizes, like cars,
he said.
The next “Super” weekend
will be July 8 and 9, Gerstner said,
with prizes totaling more than a
million dollars.
But like my morn always said,
“You can’t win if you don’tplay,”
and this reporter has caught the
bingo bug.
i
i
l
An avid bingo player brings along her lucky bingo dinosaur.
Pickles has all types and kinds.
Hundreds of artists, thousands
of titles. \
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