NO DICE: THE BACKLASH AGAINST GAMBLING

(5 of 5)

In Biloxi, a once sleepy, now casino-bedecked resort, Grey preaches at the imposing, white-columned First Presbyterian Church. "I'm here to recruit fighters! He's your enlistment sergeant!" Grey announces, pointing to the Rev. James Richter. Richter has seen two recent suicides and several bankruptcies due to gambling. "A lot of roads have gotten paved," he says. "Personally, I'd rather have a few more potholes and a few more lives intact."

At day's end Grey gets new energy from the messages on his voice mail back in Illinois. There are interview requests and legislative updates from all over the country. An Omaha, Nebraska, doctor wonders where to send a $100 contribution. A Honolulu minister requests information to distribute. A New Yorker wants Grey to fight off-track betting in Chinatown. "Sometimes I feel like I'm riding a wave," he says, "and all I have to do is stand up on the board."

Perhaps so, but there's rough water ahead. Moves are afoot in nine states, from Arkansas to Oregon, to place pro-gambling initiatives on the November ballot. The domino effect puts pressure on elected officials: Pennsylvania and Maryland racetracks watch their dollars drain into Delaware, which installed slot machines last September at two tracks; Tennessee envies the tax revenue reaped by Mississippi's Tunica County, thanks to Memphis gamblers; and New York is readying a constitutional amendment that will allow its slot hogs--who are now flocking to the Pequot Indians' Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut--to spend their money at home. Meanwhile, Fahrenkopf has begun to rally not just casino companies but also suppliers, "down to the guys who make the swizzle sticks," he says. And, he notes, "people are voting with their feet--125 million casino visits last year."

But Grey is undaunted as he pulls out a worn leather datebook. Pasted inside: a typewritten list of General Patton's recommended qualities of a good general. "Steadiness of purpose, strength of character, tactically aggressive, loves a fight." He pauses. "'Loves a fight'--that's the part I like."