American Prestige Special - The US Military’s On-Base Slot Machine Racket w/ Molly Longman (Preview)
Aug 20, 2025
Explore the surprising world of slot machines on U.S. military bases, where the military rakes in over $70 million annually. Discover the cultural shift towards gambling and its regulation by the Department of Defense. Hear about the potential exploitation and addiction risks, as well as the broader security implications tied to this phenomenon. It's a deep dive into how normalizing gambling affects service members abroad!
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Everyday Encounter With Slot Machines
- Molly observed slot machines in everyday places like a gas station on a road trip near Missouri.
- She used this personal observation to highlight how ubiquitous slot machines can be in certain regions.
Data Led Discovery Of On-Base Gambling
- Molly traced the story from a random Medium line to FOIA requests and a comprehensive dataset.
- The resulting data revealed the scale, types of games, machine counts, and revenue details of DOD-run slot operations abroad.
Domestic Ban, Overseas Presence
- Congress banned slot machines on domestic bases in the early 1950s while they remain allowed overseas.
- Molly notes nearly 79 overseas locations and almost 2,000 machines operated by the DOD in places like Korea, Japan, and Germany.