WASHINGTON (TNND) — It can simultaneously bring a halt to boredom, a huge adrenaline rush and once in a while, a financial payout.
That concerning combination was enough to reel in Army Staff Sergeant Dave Yaeger, deployed to Korea shortly after the terror attacks of 9-11, leaving his wife and two young children behind.
In a recent interview with Sinclair, he shared his story.
They put me up on the base. I’m walking around the hotel and happened to notice a casino-style slot room, so I walked in. I took a couple hundred bucks out. I decided to play, and I think that’s where the seed was planted. Because I won, all of the stress I was feeling and all the strain I was feeling just washed away in that moment.”
FILE – A spectator places a bet before the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 7, 2022, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
That moment is familiar to many in the military.
On the 12 U.S overseas bases, there are more than 3,100 slot machines which brought more than $91 million in 2024 alone.
It’s all part of a campaign to boost morale and provide recreation.
A September 2025 Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report found that there were 185 active-duty service members with a gambling-related diagnosis in fiscal year 2024.
According to their findings, more clarity is needed to promote more responsible gambling.
“By issuing guidance with clear requirements for responsible gaming practices at overseas installations, the military services could help prevent or respond to problem gambling by users of their recreational gaming machines.”
While not permitted on bases inside the country, Yeager says they’re easy to find, which he believes is intentional.
It’s a guaranteed income. It’s a ready-made guaranteed income with a crowd that’s ready to be advertised to.”
That crowd was central to the GAO Report, which found “Demographic risk factors include being younger and having a higher propensity for risk-taking.”
They are risks which, for Yeager, almost cost him everything, as he details in his book, Fall In: A Veteran with a Gambling Addiction.
“So, within that six years, I was divorced. I lost contact with my children for two years. I had four suicide attempts. Basically wiped out any savings that I had,” he said
Eventually, though, Yeager was able to turn his life around with his now grown children back in his life and a new marriage.
Much of his life is now devoted to spreading the word on problem gambling.
According to the Department of Defense, service members are now screened for gambling disorders in their annual health exams. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also provides gambling addiction treatment and counseling.