Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The: FROM BLACKJACK TO BINGO

Funny thing about gamblers. Some of them just can't resist bucking the odds.

The morning after a wicked winter storm, Bob Gerhartz, a security guard at Ho-Chunk casino, was carefully making his way to work on a stretch of interstate slicker than a pool hall hustler when a semi came whooshing by him in the left lane.

"It was snowy and slippery," Gerhartz said. "I was going maybe 30 or 35 mph and he must have been doing 55. I thought to myself, `Boy, he's in a hurry!' I drive a few more miles and where does he pull in? Right here."

With 17 Indian casinos and four dog tracks scattered throughout the state, gambling in Wisconsin, once taboo, has become not only acceptable but nearly irresistible.

It is the casinos that sing the sweetest siren song. Bingo, betting, slots and blackjack are pumping millions into our state's tourism economy.

The casinos come in all shapes and sizes.

From small operations in relatively remote locations like the cozy Hole in the Wall Casino with 320 slots and a dozen blackjack tables in tiny Danbury about 60 miles south of Superior to large, glittering gambling palaces like Ho-Chunk with 1,100 employees and a $25 million annual payroll.

"When the buses come in, you don't want to stand between those doors and the nickel machines," said a smiling official at Ho-Chunk. "You'll get run over."

Ho-Chunk has 1,600 slot machines, 48 blackjack tables and a bingo hall big enough to accommodate nearly 600. It is outdone by the Oneida Bingo and Casino in Green Bay with 3,000 slots, 84 blackjack tables and a 1,000-seat bingo hall.

Ho-Chunk, the Oneida Bingo and Casino, and the St. Croix Casino and Hotel in Turtle Lake are the three biggest casinos in the state.

Like that determined truck driver who flew by Gerhartz on the interstate, Tiffany Scott and her husband, David, of Kenosha, weren't about to let a little thing like a foot of snow thwart their plans for a huge Ho-Chunk weekend.

They had made their reservation earlier as part of a package deal at a nearby Best Western. The drive to the Dells, on snowpacked roads, took about 51/2 hours.

"We were going, no matter what," Tiffany said on a Saturday morning, minutes after cheerily collecting a small jackpot from a quarter slot machine.

She plays the slots. Her husband likes blackjack.

"We're diehard gamblers," Tiffany said. "We've been to Reno a lot but this is the first time we've been here."

Ho-Chunk, on Highway 12 three miles south of Wisconsin Dells, in the heart of one of the state's biggest tourist meccas, opened for business in October 1993.

Business has been so good that last September, Ho-Chunk tribal officials expanded their operation.

The addition, with a circus motif, added 400 more slot machines and 12 blackjack tables. Unlike the rest of the casino, no smoking is allowed there.

The Oneida Bingo and Casino, across from Green Bay's Austin Straubel Airport, has a 301-room Radisson Inn attached to one of its buildings.

The St. Croix Casino and Hotel in Turtle Lake, about 60 miles north of Eau Claire, draws heavily from the nearby Twin Cities. The casino has about 900 slots and 32 blackjack tables in addition to a 158-room hotel. It not does offer bingo, however.

Bingo is a big deal, though, at the Potawatomi Bingo and Casino in Milwaukee.

While the casino has only 200 slot machines, it has a monstrous bingo hall enough for 2,000 players. Four sessions of Bingo are held each day, seven days a week.

As in Las Vegas, quarter slot machines are the most common at Wisconsin casinos although you can also find nickel machines, dollar machines and even a few $5 machines.

Under the casino compacts, the mutual agreements between the state and the casinos, slot machines must pay a return of at least 80% although most provide far more than that, according to Scott Scepaniak, chairman of the State Gaming Commission.

"There are peaks and valleys," said Scepaniak, who noted that the payout average is figured "over the life of the machine, which is based on 17 million pulls."

The percentage is guaranteed by a computer chip in each machine, which was described by one casino official as a "random number generator."

Spokesmen for the state's three largest casinos said the slot machine payout at their facilities is actually closer to an average of 92% or more. This percentage, however, varies month to month, up or down.

Many casinos are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or close to it. But under their compacts, all casinos must close their blackjack tables six hours each day, usually in the wee hours of the morning.

Complimentary beverages, including coffee and soft drinks, are routinely provided and alcoholic beverages are sold at a few, including the St. Croix Casino.

Food is also a casino staple the Oneida Casino has three main restaurants and two snack bars, for instance. Some casinos offer buffet dining, which can be a bargain.

The luncheon buffet at Ho-Chunk one recent Saturday consisted of five entrees roast beef, fish, chicken, ribs and pork chops in addition to vegetables, fruit, a complete salad bar and dessert. The price, not including beverage, was a reasonable $6.50.

The St. Croix casino has two restaurants, including one with a 24-hour buffet, as well as a food court.

"We have a prime rib sandwich in our food court and it's a tremendous value," said Steve Michel, the casino's marketing director. "We're becoming more and more known for our prime rib. It's a delicious, big sandwich and it's only $2.75."