Good O' Boy Roundup Report - March, 1996


5. Allegations regarding gambling and
OIG findings

We received numerous reports of gambling that took two forms at the Roundup: card games and a game called "chicken shit bingo." The reports of card games were all private poker or other card games at individual campsites. We found no evidence that the Roundup organized or sponsored card games.

"Chickenshit Bingo" Game
Fig. 41

The "chicken shit bingo" game, on the other hand, appeared to be a more formally organized event. A civilian brought a large wooden board that had been marked off into one hundred squares. The board was placed on the ground and surrounded by chicken wire fencing. The players each paid five dollars for a particular numbered square on the board. After all the squares were selected, a person placed a live chicken onto the board. The person who had selected the square on which the chicken first defecated "won" the game and one-half the money collected from the players. Rightmyer received the rest of the pot to use either to defray general Roundup expenses or to donate to the particular charity the Roundup was supporting that year. [ / In various years the Roundup selected a charity for which to raise money. One year they held an auction for the benefit of an ATF agent whose daughter was in a coma after a car accident. For many years they held a golf tournament for the benefit of the American Cancer Society. In other years money was raised for the families of the agents killed at Waco or the victims' families in the Oklahoma City bombing. ]

OIG found substantial credible evidence that Roundup attendees frequently played card games with monetary stakes. We found no evidence that the Roundup officially sponsored these games or received any proceeds from them. The games appear to have been private, unofficial games among small groups of attendees. We found no evidence that there was any type of "dealer" or "house" that profited from these games. We also found no indication that such gambling was discouraged by Roundup organizers.

With respect to the "chicken shit bingo" game, on the other hand, this gambling did appear to have a more official imprimatur. The winner did not receive all of the money collected from selling the numbered squares, thus technically creating a "house" for profits.