How the Western was won

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2000 | 9:32 a.m.

Even the homeless feel at home in a downtown Las Vegas bingo parlor, where some devoted patrons have been covering numbers for almost 30 years.

The parlor is in Fremont Street's Western hotel-casino, a modest-sized establishment that was opened in 1971 by Jackie Gaughan, who owns several other properties downtown, including El Cortez and the Plaza, among others.

Back then the only gambling in the Western was bingo, with seating for more than 1,000 players.

But as time passed and interests changed, the casino turned to slots as its primary game of chance, although a person can also play blackjack, keno, roulette and, of course, bingo.

Today there are 134 seats in the bingo parlor, which has five one-hour sessions daily -- 8 and 11 a.m., and 2, 7 and 9 p.m.

The casino is in a down-on-its-luck-neighborhood east of the Fremont Street Experience, and is an experience all its own.

Those who patronize the parlor have become part of an extended bingo-playing family over the years.

They share news of births and deaths, of fortune and misfortune. Many exchange gifts at Christmas and stories throughout the year.

Players have married, divorced and been separated from their spouses by death, yet still they routinely seek out their favorite seats at the long tables where they find comfort and satisfaction -- with no expectation of winning a vast fortune.

Jackpots occasionally may reach between $1,500 and $4,800, but more often winners receive anywhere from $20 to a sum in the hundreds, depending on how many play.

Although there are no illusions about striking it rich at the Western, it doesn't cost a fortune to play. For $1 you can spend an hour playing one session of nine games. That sum makes gambling affordable even for the unemployed, those on fixed incomes and, sometimes, even a homeless person. Even the slots are affordable for the destitute, with several penny machines scattered among the ones that cost a quarter or a dollar.

"They call this 'bum bingo' because a lot of street people come in here," 65-year-old Charmain Pohlman said. Pohlman and her 71-year-old husband, Harley, a retired truck driver, have been coming to the Western almost nightly for the past 18 years.

"This is just something to pass the time," she said. "It's more fun than a movie and there's nothing but sex and violence on TV anymore. Who needs it?"

She isn't put off by the street people. "They don't bother nobody. They just want to play bingo. The only time management says anything is when they try to panhandle," Charmain Pohlman said.

Although the Pohlmans, like many of the regulars, are here on a daily basis, they say they are not addicted to gambling. They say they aren't even gamblers.

"But sometimes I'll play the nickle machines," Harley Pohlman admitted.

"There's just something here that draws you," Charmain Pholman said. "The people are friendly. You get to know everybody."

Joann Ward, 68, and her daughter, Jamie Vansetter, also find themselves drawn to the friendly atmosphere that so many find addictive. "It's something to do, and I know all the locals," said Ward, who often plays four sessions a day, seven days a week. "And I'm just fascinated with playing bingo. I can't pay the bills with what I win."

Ward and most of the other regulars live nearby, some within walking distance -- if they dared walk through the neighborhood. Drug deals and petty crime are not uncommon on this stretch of Fremont Street, although none of that deters the determined bingo junkies.

"I don't think this neighborhood is a major problem," said bingo manager Sherrie Breen, who began working at the Western in 1973. "We're no worse and no better than anyone else. We are located off the beaten path, but there is nothing out of the ordinary as far as danger and risk.

"We have well-lit parking lots and our security guards will escort you to your car if you like. We have never had any major criminal occurrences. Metro has joined with area businesses and residents to help fight crime. The mounted police park their horse trailers near here. We've got police in the area all the time."

The social status of the players ranges from filthy rich to dirt poor, but the majority are retired blue collar workers.

"Some are addicted to bingo, they just love the game," Breen said. "A few can't afford the Horseshoe or the Showboat so they get their fill of it here and don't go into deep debt. We've got some unemployed players and some on disability -- they're all part of the scene. They're not going to win a million, but they're not going to lose a lot of money either."

Breen said that the secret to the parlor's attraction is the friendliness of everyone from the owner, Gaughan, to the women who work with the customers.

"I've worked for Jackie since 1973. Some of the most loyal people in the world work for him. He's made sure his employees are well taken care of," Breen said. "He's 78 and we see him down here a lot, at least four times a week. He's friendly to all the patrons. He always carries dinner tickets around in his pocket and if he talks to a customer he'll give him one."

She describes the Western as a place for local residents, although some patrons make annual cross-country pilgrimages to their bingo mecca. "It's always been mainly a locals' joint," Breen said.

The Western, which has no fancy decor, no carpets and no pretensions, reminds people a little of times gone by. "This place keeps the flavor of the old Vegas," Breen said. "We've got to be throwbacks. We attract down-to-earth people. You can come here and be who you are."

You probably won't find anyone wearing a tuxedo like at those casinos on the southern end of the Strip. Breen said that some patrons play during the day, some play at night and some play all day long.

Sixty-nine-year-old Rosemary Zappulla, for example, comes in during the afternoons and evenings three times a day, seven days a week. She's been doing it for 27 years, often joined by one or more of her eight children.

Elizabeth Katz, 90, has been playing daily for almost 30 years. "It's like a home here. Everybody knows everybody," she said.

Breen said that the women who work in the parlor know 80 percent of the players by their first name. If a regular who lives alone doesn't show up, the employees become concerned and check on them.

"If we don't, some of the players will," Breen said.

If a player needs a ride home, Breen said she doesn't mind giving them a lift. "To some, this is their family," she said. "They come here because we are friendly and care about them.

"We ask about their kids and grandkids. We feel it when they lose their husbands and wives. One lady lost her husband 10 years ago and this has been her life ever since. We have death and birthday announcements; we've been known to have a baby shower. There is a real sense of community here.

"If you treat them well, they treat you the same."

Among the customers are former employees, retired judges, business people, snowbirds and truckers. "And each person has a story," Breen said.

Like 82-year-old Pepper Martin, a former lightweight boxer who tells tales of training with ex-champion Joe Louis when both were in the Army in World War II.

Martin, trim and full of vigor, was a four-time Golden Gloves champion in Chicago and fought professionally for two years before being forced into early retirement because of a broken hand. After that he moved to Las Vegas and became a waiter and served many old-time celebrities such as Bing Crosby and Phil Harris.

A Western steady for eight years, Martin still owns a pair of boxing gloves and will teach anyone who asks the basics of the sport. "I come here seven days a week at 8 in the morning. After that session I go play the horses and then I come back here and play some more bingo," Martin said.

Joe Ciaramella, 67, a former trucker from Lancaster, N.Y., comes to Las Vegas every January and stays until the end of February. His wife, Marian, a real estate broker and tax consultant, remains at home. He stumbled across the Western by accident eight years ago.

"A friend told me to meet him here," Ciaramella recalled. "When I got here he wasn't here yet so to kill some time I played bingo -- and I won. I've been hooked every since."

During the weeks he spends in Las Vegas, he plays all five sessions of bingo at the Western seven days a week. "I have my routine," he said. "I'll have breakfast at the Cortez, then come here for 8 a.m. bingo, then at 9 I play the horses and come back to play another session of bingo. Then I'll play a role of quarters at the Fremont."

From here he will go to Florida to visit his daughter for a few weeks and then in May he and his wife will come to Las Vegas together. "I've been coming to Vegas since 1960," he said. "The Western is my headquarters now."

Joe and Re Nae White met at the parlor and got married six years ago.

Joe, 61, a former boxer and registered nurse, is disabled by arthritis. He says he has had three near-death experiences -- and the last time saw Jesus.

Pepper Martin and White have become good friends because they both used to box and they still play the harmonica.

Re Nae White, 68, has been divorced three times and has nine children and 21 grandchildren from those unions, something that attracted Joe. "She gave me a ready-made family," White, who has no children of his own, said.

White admired Re Nae from afar for years before getting up enough nerve to walk across the bingo parlor one night and blurt out a marriage proposal. "I said 'What? I don't hardly know you,' " Re Nae said.

But two months later they married and have been sitting together at the same bingo table ever since. "I learned from her what it is to live," White said.

They continue to come to the parlor every day, three or four times a day.

"I love this place," Joe White said.

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