Page 16 THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1979
Gambling big business in Texas
United Press International
The annual football season is at
hand, and that means office pools
will be organized, bookies will re
cruit their runners and police will
fight their hopeless battle against
gambling.
For police, the war is all but over
before it begins. Gambling has
gained such popularity and respec
tability, they say, that all they can
do is try to stem the tide, and that
tide for Texans alone amounts to
$1.4 billion every year.
Dallas is without a doubt the
biggest city in the state when it
comes to gambling, the Las Vegas of
Texas, police say.
“You’ve got to remember that
Dallas is first and foremost a very
sports-minded city,’’ says Dallas
police sergeant Jerry M. Curtis, a
veteran gambling investigator who
has matched wits with bookies for
more than 14 years.
‘It is
very rich city. We are
more or less the hub of the South
west. Basically, there’s just a heck of
a lot of money in Dallas. ”
Behind Dallas in the scope of
gambling operations, in the opinion
of an executive with the Texas Or
ganized Crime Prevention Council,
are, in order: Houston, San An
tonio, Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso,
Galveston, the Golden Triangle
(Beaumont, Orange and Port Ar
thur), Texarkana, Midland-Odessa,
Amarillo and Lubbock.
you’ve got Ruidoso (Downs) in New
Mexico.”
Solis touched on a point that few
law enforcement officials have been
willing to talk about in public: Police
in Texas have a more serious prob
lem than most states because
Mexico is building a chain of gambl
ing centers just across the Texas
border.
“Let’s face it,” said one law
enforcement official who asked not
to be named, “the Mexican gov
ernment sees a lot of money — one
hell of a lot of money — and you’d
better believe they’re going to get
theirs.
Racetracks are being built at
Matamoras across from Brownsville,
Texas, said Solis, and an already
popular racetrack is located at
Nuevo Laredo across from Laredo,
Texas, and an “open book” gambling
parlor is under construction there.
The Juarez racetrack, across from El
Paso, attracts huge crowds.
A track is also under construction
at Villa Acuna across from Del Rio,
Texas, and “I believe there is talk of
building another one across from
McAllen at Reynosa, Mexico,” Solis
said.
“El Paso is big,” said Victor Solis,
program coordinator with the state
agency designed to monitor and
coordinate efforts against organized
crime. “Let me tell you, the reason
El Paso is so big is because you’ve
got the races across the border and
The tracks, where dogs and
horses are raced, attract Texans
year-round. Lots of them. “Have
you ever been around El Paso when
the races are on?” asked Solis. “I’ve
been in the grandstands at Juarez
and 65-70 percent of the people
there were American citizens. What
it does is attract organized crime.
The profit, the money is there. ”
Solis said Texas border towns are
becoming increasingly attractive to
organized crime elements and the
situation will only become worse as
SMU gets hammer thrower
United Press International
DALLAS — Southern Methodist
track coach Ted McLaughlin said
Wednesday Richard Olsen, a ham
mer thrower from Norway, had
enrolled at SMU and would be eli
gible for competition in the 1981
track season.
Olsen has a throw of 237-8 to his
credit, the third best throw ever by
He finished second at
a collegian,
last year’s NCAA championship.
Olsen is a member of the Norwe
gian national team and will compete
for Norway in the 1980 Olympics.
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Mexican racetrack gambling opera
tions grow in size and number.
“There’s organized crime operat
ing at Juarez and El Paso because of
the Juarez race track,” said Solis.
“Any way you skin the cat, drugs
will be related.
“Comparing the profit to the risk
of apprehension, gambling is more
lucrative (than drugs). It’s less
dangerous.”
Organized crime becomes in
volved in gambling, said Solis, be
cause vast amounts of cash can be
obtained.
“They’re in there for the money
from gambling,” said Solis. “And
gambling money provides funds for
narcotics trafficking, loan sharking,
taking over legitimate businesses so
money can be laundered.”
A report published by the or
ganized crime council in 1977 was
based on a survey by a highly re
spected national research organiza
tion. It concluded that Texans spent
$975 million annually on gambling
and 93 percent of the activity in
volved sports wagering.
Adjusted for inflation, $1.4 billion
is a conservative figure of what Tex
ans will spend on gambling in 1979,
said Solis.
Curtis, the Dallas police anti
gambling veteran, said there are at
least 250 bookies in Dallas taking
daily wagers on sports events.
“Football is the predominant
sport,” he said. “When football
starts, they start coming out of the
woodwork. ”
Dallas’ smalltime bookies, he
said, take bets as his $75 while the
“big ones” will take bets as high as
$5,000 on a single game. In Dallas
alone, he said, residents spend $10
million a week in illegal sports wa
gering — “and that’s a very, very
conservative figure.”
Office pools have gained social ac
ceptance, said Curtis, but are il
legal. And, he said, some money
from gambling eventually finds its
way into the coffers of organized
crime.
“During football season, office
pools are one of the most popular
forms of gambling there is,” said
Curtis. “But under our state law,
this is a lottery and it falls under
gambling promotion. It is a felony to
conduct one of these things.
“The person that draws up the
deal, that collects the money, that
holds the money for it, is guilty of
gambling promotion. Each person
who participates is guilty of gaming
— a Class C misdemeanor.”
Persons who coordinate office
pools, he said, face up to 10 years in
prison and a $5,000 fine — although
he admits police only investigate of
fice gambling activity upon receipt
of a formal complaint.
“Gambling cannot be stopped,
but we certainly can control it, ” said
Curtis. “That is primarily our objec
tive — and to keep organized crime
out of the gambling field in the Dal
las area. Dallas is a clean city as far
as organized crime. ”
Curtis admitted he had been
criticized for his unceasing action
against gambling. It is argued, he
said, that gambling is a victimless
crime and that anti-gambling laws
are so widely disregarded that
enforcement of them creates disre
spect for the rule of law itself.
But his job is to uphold the law,
said Curtis, and the law says gambl
ing is illegal. “Any time you have
any large sums Of money that will
exchange hands, you’re going to at
tract the criminal element,” he said.
“When there is money to be made,
they’ll be there and organized crime
won’t be far behind. ”
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