Gambling

Passengers on British Airways flights will be able to gamble their way across the Atlantic Ocean by the end of this year as a result of an agreement announced Thursday between the airline and Intergame, an Irvine computer company. Intergame's video terminals, which will be installed in some airline seatbacks, will allow passengers to play video versions of casino games such as poker, blackjack and roulette.

Sportofkingsmyeye. Don't get me wrong. A horse is a beautiful animal. And the grace with which a thoroughbred runs is truly a sight to behold. But in the last few days, I've beheld more horses with silly names--Comebackkidder, Abuvthemendozaline--running in circles than I care to remember. Not that I can forget--they're still running in my head. And some of the ones I picked are probably still running on the track. Fortunately, none of them broke down, as the terminology goes.

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams was questioned behind closed doors Tuesday as the Police Commission moved into the conclusive phase of its investigation into allegations of misconduct by the chief. Sources close to the investigation have indicated that the board has found no evidence of serious wrongdoing. It has, however, found records indicating that Williams and his wife have accepted free rooms from at least one Las Vegas casino hotel, sources said.

Los Angeles police on Monday arrested 11 men at 21 sites, including a location in Van Nuys, for allegedly running a string of illegal slot machines, officials said Wednesday. The sting, in which LAPD officers were assisted by Sheriff's Department deputies, was aimed at a number of Korean-owned pool halls and bookstores where the men were allegedly letting customers use the machines, LAPD Cmdr. Tim McBride said.

Everyone in town knew it: Central City, like the gold mines above Main Street, was played out. On the clock of Western history, it was only a few ticks from the day when souvenir hunters would poke through the ghostly ruins and ask, "I wonder who lived here?" The population that had hit 15,000 during the bonanza of a century ago had dwindled to 350. And as often as not, bartender Pete Redman spent his evenings presiding over an empty bar at the Elks Lodge.

The goal of the Lottery Channel is to be the CNN of legal gambling. At the moment, though, the fledgling station is closer to "Wayne's World." Consider these highlights from the channel's promotional videotape: * An interview with the technician who installed the set's lighting. He remarked, in perfect deadpan: "Of course, people get a little upset at us if we happen to complete the installation and a week later something perchance happens to fall out of the sky, so to speak."

The National Best Seven, a 50-cent bet that fell far short of expectations, will be offered for the last time on April 8, the Thoroughbred Racing Assns. tracks said Friday. The wager, with a projected once-a-week handle of $500,000, has averaged only $215,000 over 40 weeks, and betting dropped under $100,000 on nine of the last 11 Saturdays. "This was a difficult decision," said Brian McGrath, TRA commissioner. "The prospects of raising the handle to acceptable levels were not promising.

Saturday night, about an hour short of midnight, and Bryce Carlson is on the prowl. The dense palm jungle inside the Mirage, Steve Wynn's South Seas fantasy on the Las Vegas Strip, vibrates to the rhythm of a live pop band. Under faux-bamboo canopies, 80 blackjack tables hum like hives. A young Asian player with a $500 bet stares first at his nine and seven and then at the dealer's up card, a queen. He motions for a hit and draws an eight, busting his hand with 24.

An unusual fund-raiser will be held at Estancia High School on Friday to help seniors raise money for graduation night festivities in June. The school's football field will be chalked off into 2,500 squares, with each square sold for $5 and randomly numbered 1 through 2,500. Then, two cows will be let out at noon onto the field, where, hopefully, they will perform three acts of nature before the clock strikes 1.

Arthur Ernest Schlichter probably never thought this time would come. Somehow, he probably never figured there would be a situation he couldn't talk himself out of, one he couldn't charm his way through. Never did he think the game would really be over. Friday in U.S. Federal Court, Schlichter, dressed in prison grays, stood before Judge Philip Pro and pleaded for a lenient sentence for his conviction on $175,000 in bank fraud--a charge he had pleaded guilty to in November.