Casino combat

Culture | Gambling opponent Tom Grey fields a small coalition that’s slowing the spread of big-time gaming | Russ Pulliam

He may be past retirement age, but veteran gambling opponent Tom Grey plans to keep on fighting. At 66, Grey is both a Vietnam veteran and an experienced combatant against legal gambling.

The executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, on an annual budget of not much more than $100,000, has helped grass-roots groups repeatedly defeat well-financed gambling initiatives.

"Retirement is a non-starter when you are in a good fight, for the future of your children and grandchildren," Grey told WORLD.

His coalition has stood up to an industry with deep pockets, prompting Chicago Tribune columnist Paul Galloway to call him "Prophet of the Year" for warning against gambling. The group has succeeded by bringing evangelical and fundamentalist church leaders together with mainline churches to stop gambling proposals. And, he believes, the spread of legal gambling may be reaching its peak: Proposals to expand gambling failed in three states last fall—Ohio, Nebraska, and Rhode Island.