President Clinton has made his three appointments to a nine-member panel charged with examining the social and economic effects of gambling.

One appointee, William Bible, the chairman of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, supports legalized gambling, while the other two, the White House said, lean against it. The skeptics are Richard Leone, a former New Jersey treasurer; and Robert Loescher, a member of the Tlingit Tribe of Alaska.

Congress has already chosen the other six members. Gambling skeptics appear to have a slight edge.