By Henry Battistoni
Staff Reporter
Gambling is big business in
Nebraska.
Last year, horse racing alone
took in $159 million. Such large
quantities of money for betting
have positive and negative conse
quences for the state. While creat
ing jobs and revenue, gambling
demands regulatory legislation
and bureaucratic bodies to monitor
activities and increased work for
police forces.
According to the University
Health Center’s spring survey of
students, 13 percent bet on horses,
dogs, or gambled at cards, 16 per
cent bet on sporting events; 12
percent purchased lottery tickets
and 2.6 percent participated in
other gambling activities. Most
wagers were from $1 to $5, but 11.7
percent were over $10.
The largest percentage of stu
dents gambling on sporting events
is a telling figure. Lt. Gary Ingel of
the Lincoln Police Department said
illegal gambling in Lincoln is
mostly on college and professional
football.
Ingel said there are "probably
half a dozen bookmaking opera
tions in Lancaster County.”
There were no arrests for gam
bling in Lincoln in 1987. However,
in the preceding and following
years there were 17 arrests each,
primarily for bookmaking. Lt. Jerry
Smith attributes the low arrest rate
to the large amount of hours re
quired to make these arrests.
Recently, national concern was
voiced over the proliferation of
video gambling. Electronic poker
machines sometimes are played for
cash pay-offs rather than extra
games. Nebraska is not immune to
this form of illegal gambling.
Bill Howlanaj assistant Attorney
General, said it is his office’s duty
to enforce statutes and work in an
advisory capacity to aid law en
forcement in matters concerning
illegal gambling.
“We are mainly directing our
efforts to the confiscating of equip
ment,” he said.
That video gambling is an ongo
Eric Gregory/ Dally Nebraskan
ing problem is evidenced by the
Nebraska State Patrol having sent
an officer to Quantico, Vir., for
special training.
140 video gambling machines
were confiscated in 1987, said Lt.
Larry Ball of the Nebraska State
Patrol.
Pickle cards, the most accessible
form of gambling, have been legal
in Nebraska since 1983. The De
partment of Revenue’s figures
show $109.5 million was spent on
pickle cards last year. The state
received nearly $5 million in reve
nue. The cards typically are found
in bars, liquor stores and pickle
parlors.
See GAMBLE on S