Investigations: Beware the Red-Eye

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 (enough to balance the budget). 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 (in 1960 the legal handle at U.S. tracks was only $3.3 billion), 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 ($400,000 in gross sales last year, with an $86,000 profit) 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 (each the size of two cigarette packs), 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 (cost: $160) that are almost undetectable. Tinted red, the lenses can catch card markings (made with a special ink that Karnov sells for $10 a quart) 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 ($150) 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.

Later, the subcommittee moved away from gadgets to the serious question of controls on gambling. It heard IRS Commissioner Caplin report that a law requiring gamblers to register with the Government and pay $50 for a license had been a total flop (anyone who signed up was apt to be arrested for violating state gambling laws). Law-enforcement officers urged Congress to pass legislation that would legalize wiretapping, prevent the manufacture and transport of crooked devices. A series of track-wise witnesses described the mechanics of big-time bookie and race-wire operations. Heading into the second week, the subcommittee had sprung few surprises—but it had clearly established that some of the nation’s most popular indoor sports are in dire need of tough new rules.