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Casino Night comes to Bagram

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Richard Williams
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  The roulette wheel was spinning and servicemembers were winning during the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing's Casino Night held Jan. 18, 2009.

More than 70 people were in attendance to try their hand at Texas hold 'em, blackjack and roulette and enjoy free pizza during the event, which was hosted by the 455th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron, with special guests The U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne band known as The Mighty Mighty Bragg Tones.

"Casino night is a collection of different games that we offer during the week," said Travis Luethe, 455th EFSS recreation and marketing manager. "We just want to give everyone an opportunity to come out, listen to some music, eat some free pizza and have a good time."

The way casino night works is pretty simple, said Luethe, a six year veteran of Morale, Welfare and Recreation events. "At the beginning of the night everyone buys in, and with buying in I mean you sign your name to a piece of paper. Once you have done that, you get 500 dollars of play money and you play."

Luethe said, once the night is over the individual with the most money wins a grand prize which during this casino night was a gift card for 100 dollars. "We actually put a wrinkle in this casino night. We auctioned off additional prizes every half hour and the participants could use their play money to bid on these items."

Items that were auctioned ranged from a flashlight or a sports bottle to a 250 gigabyte hard drive. Luethe said that this gave the patrons who maybe didn't have a chance to be a big winner at the end of the night the opportunity to walk away with a prize.

Overall, Luethe and his team wanted to ensure that everyone had a good time and enjoyed the music, games and pizza.

"I think that these things are great," said Airman 1st Class Matthew Chavis, 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron. "I know that most of the people in my Squadron look forward to this event every time they hold one here."

Chavis, deployed form Travis Air Force Base, Calif. said, "I know guys that have a difficult time with the deployments here because they are away from their family and friends and it is important for us to be able to let loose a little bit and unwind."

Luethe said that one of the most important things about making this type of event a success is support from volunteers from around Bagram. "We always accept any help that people want to give us for events like these and it is important because the volunteers help us ensure that the troops have a good time and get a break from the daily grind."

The big winners for the evening were:

Tech. Sgt. Jeromy Cross, 455th AEW Public Affairs won a mini flashlight

Tech. Sgt. Xiomara Young, 455th EFSS Personnel won a water bottle and teddy bear

Master Sgt. Katherine Palmer, 774th EAS Ops. won a Star Trek DVD and water bottle

Martin Pannabecker, 455th EFSS won a Transformers II DVD and mini flashlight

Airman 1st Class Nicholas Babian USAF Task Force Medical won a watch

Senior Master Sgt. Ryan Alston 455th ELRS Vehicle Maintenance won a 250 gigabyte external hard drive

Grand Prize Winner Airman 1st Class Ryan Christopher 455th ESFS won a 100 dollar gift card