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14 Friday, December 6, 1985

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Nancy Faudem gives the Wheel of Fortune a spin.

The Big Gamble

Hundreds of Detroiters chased
Lady Luck at the JCC's
Chanukah Las Vegas Night.

BY TEDD SCHNEIDER
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY GLENN TRIEST
Benyas-Kaufman

OK, so maybe it didn't match
the romance of Monte Carlo, the
glitz of Las Vegas or even the man-
ufactured glitter of Atlantic City.
But for the 700 big and not-so-big
shooters who came out to play,
Chanukah Las Vegas Night at the
Jewish Community Center on Nov.
23 was just a lot of plain, "high-
stakes" fun.
As the chips changed hands and
the noise level grew, Shiffman Hall
became — for a night anyway — the
main casino at the MGM Grand.
There was blackjack, craps and
roulette. A makeshift bar graced one
corner of the room. The only things
missing were the slot machines in
the lobby. And, oh yeah, no Lola
Falana either.
At some of the tables, the action
was fast and the mood tense. There
was a limit on winnings, but it was
real money, not the Monopoly
variety, that was being won and lost.
Most players though, were a lit-
tle more casual in their approach. "I
came here because I figured it would
be a good way to improve my lifes-
tyle," joked David Cooper from his
perch in front of a blackjack table.
For Cooper's wife, Roberta, the
annual event provided a chance for
the couple to demonstrate their
charitable spirit since the proceeds
went to the JCC Community Net-
work for Jewish Singles. The event
raised about $5,000, according to
Bruce Landgarten, who served as
"co-pit boss" along with Center Ath-
letic Director Marty Oliff.
The Wheel of Fortune, jammed
into a corner at the rear Of the hall,
saw a steady stream of customers
(i.e. victims) from the time the doors
opened at 8 p.m. until after mid-

night, when those still in attendance
began to run out of steam and cash
(not necessarily in that order).
The Shiffman Hall stage, which
usually plays host to the JCC Senior
Choir and other more culturally
enlightening acts, was raffle head-
quarters. Since the grand prize was
a trip for two to Las Vegas, ticket
buyers could argue that the lavish
amount of attention they were pay-
ing to the Center's gaming tables
was really a good way to train for
their eventual big killing in "Sin
City."
The casino was staffed by JCC
employees and volunteers. Ada Ban-
dalene, who normally runs the phys-
ical education program at the Cen-
ter's Jimmy Prentis Morris Branch,
found new popularity as emcee and
keeper of the raffle barrel. Esther
Tuchklaper of the Center Cultural
Arts Department spent the evening
selling $1 chips from a booth at the
front of the hall.
When it was all over the win-
ners cashed in their chips at the
casino "bank," an office just around
the corner from the main desk in the
JCC lobby, before heading out to
celebrate.
And the losers? Well, there's al-
ways the 24-hour teller machine on
the way home.
Set-up men from the LaRue Dis-
tribution Co. arrived early Sunday
morning to dismantle the tables and
make way for that afternoon's fund-
raising bazaar in support of de-
velopmentally disabled children.
By Sunday, night, the closest
legal craps game could only be found
on the Boardwalk — the one in New
Jersey, not the shopping mall in
West Bloomfield.