Posted December 31 2003
In a darkened storefront, retirees feed bills into video slot machines while trying to win tickets redeemable for shopping cards, restaurant coupons and other low-stakes prizes.
In turn, operators of the Treasure Island, a so-called arcade amusement center on Powerline Road in Pompano Beach, feed players doughnuts, sandwiches, soup, lasagna, meatloaf and turkey -- all for free as long as the machines keep whirring.
"They'll call in advance to see what's for dinner," manager Frank Fillionsaid.
Similar arcades are rapidly opening in strip malls across Florida, sometimes under the scrutiny of police and politicians who consider them a form of gambling. With more arcades expected to open in South Florida -- including one planned for Delray Beach -- some communities are scrambling to stop their spread and determine whether the existing law is able to address their operations.
Officials in Davie passed a law allowing arcades only in heavily commercial areas, and Pompano Beach, Sanford and Longwood have adopted laws meant to keep more arcades from opening while they search for long-term solutions to regulate their locations and numbers. At the same time, police in Volusia, St. Johns, and Sarasota counties have raided arcades and confiscated their machines and cash.
The raids were based on complaints and police and prosecutors' interpretation that the arcades are illegal.
"They have caught everyone by surprise and now jurisdictions are dealing with and struggling with this issue," said Gary Davidson, spokesman for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Operators of the quasi-casinos such as Treasure Island say the games are legal because of the 1996 "Chuck E. Cheese's exemption" to state gambling laws. It legalized games of skill, such as Skee-Ball and Whack-A-Mole in children's restaurants but also opened the door for adult arcades.
The video machines have buttons that let players stop a series of whirling images in hopes of landing on a winning combination. Arcades pay out credits, which players redeem for gift certificates to places such as Publix, Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
Critics of the arcades say that it amounts to gambling because some players cash in the certificates at stores by buying a pack of gum and keeping the change.
Fillion said he can't imagine many of his daily 200 to 300 customers doing that.
"These aren't gamblers who come here," he said. "These are senior citizens. They come here because it's a social club. It gives them a place to go. It's not like it's hard gambling. It's a good, healthy and honest business."
Arcade regulars such as David Numer, 81, and his wife, Alice, 78, drive 20 minutes to Treasure Island three or four times a week from their home west of Boca Raton. The retired general foreman and bank worker said they have won $50 gift coupons to Wal-Mart and $25 Publix certificates.
"We come here for lunch and dinner. Instead of doing nothing at home, you can come here and talk to people," said David Numer, spinning around in his soft swivel chair to look away momentarily from the machine. "The games we play aren't about skill," he conceded. "They're just luck. Like anything else, if you don't overdo it you won't get hurt."
Many machines start when players insert bills and get up to 100 points per dollar on a penny-per-point game and 20 points per dollar on a nickel game. Players hit the start button and rows of images spin on the screen. Players stop the spinning by hitting a button. The goal is to line up the images like on a slot machine. Winners collect tickets worth no more than 75 cents of merchandise. The tickets can then be redeemed for prizes.
In Volusia County, gaming experts determined that the machines are pre-programmed to win a certain percentage of time, and skill isn't a factor, Davidson said. Despite the stop button, experts said it's impossible for players to control when the machines stop.
The arcades have been popular for years in other southern states such as Georgia. But when authorities started cracking down, because they deemed them illegal, operators moved to Florida, said Robert Jarvis, professor of gambling law at Nova Southeastern University. The owners are mostly local business people who set up the arcades within several weeks or just days, he said.
At first, the arcades appeared in central and northern Florida, mostly along truck routes, Jarvis said. From there, they spread to strip malls near residential areas, particularly those close to retiree populations.
Police took note.
In November, authorities in Volusia and St. Johns counties raided eight arcades, confiscated more than 50 slot machines and made at least one arrest for operating a gambling house. About a year ago, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office closed two slot arcades.
But a Sarasota County judge dismissed the criminal charges, finding Florida law too vague on what constitutes gambling. The ruling has been appealed.
Ultimately it will be up to state legislators or the Florida Supreme Court to hash out the arcade issue, Jarvis said.
Until then, cities such as Delray Beach struggle to figure out how to handle such arcades. The city Planning and Zoning Board this month unanimously approved the opening of Spinners Arcade in a strip mall on Linton Boulevard and Military Trail. It will be up to the City Commission to make the final decision on allowing the arcade, registered under John Bailey.
Bailey and his partner, Christopher Cataldo, run an arcade, also called Spinners Arcade, on Stirling Road in Davie, which has existed for three years.
The state Department of Business and Professional Regulation in October issued Spinners Arcade in Davie a notice for selling alcoholic beverages without a license. The violation occurred when an undercover agent visiting the arcade was told by a hostess that she would serve him beer if he played the machines. When the agent confronted Cataldo, the owner said he quit giving away beer because "everyone was coming in to his business solely for the purpose of obtaining free beer," records show.
Bailey and Cataldo declined to comment.
While authorities debate the issue, arcade enthusiast Ceil Eitman of Coconut Creek plans to continue playing. She doesn't understand what the fuss is all about.
"It's a good time," said Eitman, a semi-retired real estate agent. "It's just a giggle."@@@
In a darkened storefront, retirees feed bills into video slot machines while trying to win tickets redeemable for shopping cards, restaurant coupons and other low-stakes prizes.
In turn, operators of the Treasure Island, a so-called arcade amusement center on Powerline Road in Pompano Beach, feed players doughnuts, sandwiches, soup, lasagna, meatloaf and turkey -- all for free as long as the machines keep whirring.
"They'll call in advance to see what's for dinner," manager Frank Fillionsaid.
Similar arcades are rapidly opening in strip malls across Florida, sometimes under the scrutiny of police and politicians who consider them a form of gambling. With more arcades expected to open in South Florida -- including one planned for Delray Beach -- some communities are scrambling to stop their spread and determine whether the existing law is able to address their operations.
Officials in Davie passed a law allowing arcades only in heavily commercial areas, and Pompano Beach, Sanford and Longwood have adopted laws meant to keep more arcades from opening while they search for long-term solutions to regulate their locations and numbers. At the same time, police in Volusia, St. Johns, and Sarasota counties have raided arcades and confiscated their machines and cash.
The raids were based on complaints and police and prosecutors' interpretation that the arcades are illegal.
"They have caught everyone by surprise and now jurisdictions are dealing with and struggling with this issue," said Gary Davidson, spokesman for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Operators of the quasi-casinos such as Treasure Island say the games are legal because of the 1996 "Chuck E. Cheese's exemption" to state gambling laws. It legalized games of skill, such as Skee-Ball and Whack-A-Mole in children's restaurants but also opened the door for adult arcades.
The video machines have buttons that let players stop a series of whirling images in hopes of landing on a winning combination. Arcades pay out credits, which players redeem for gift certificates to places such as Publix, Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
Critics of the arcades say that it amounts to gambling because some players cash in the certificates at stores by buying a pack of gum and keeping the change.
Fillion said he can't imagine many of his daily 200 to 300 customers doing that.
"These aren't gamblers who come here," he said. "These are senior citizens. They come here because it's a social club. It gives them a place to go. It's not like it's hard gambling. It's a good, healthy and honest business."
Arcade regulars such as David Numer, 81, and his wife, Alice, 78, drive 20 minutes to Treasure Island three or four times a week from their home west of Boca Raton. The retired general foreman and bank worker said they have won $50 gift coupons to Wal-Mart and $25 Publix certificates.
"We come here for lunch and dinner. Instead of doing nothing at home, you can come here and talk to people," said David Numer, spinning around in his soft swivel chair to look away momentarily from the machine. "The games we play aren't about skill," he conceded. "They're just luck. Like anything else, if you don't overdo it you won't get hurt."
Many machines start when players insert bills and get up to 100 points per dollar on a penny-per-point game and 20 points per dollar on a nickel game. Players hit the start button and rows of images spin on the screen. Players stop the spinning by hitting a button. The goal is to line up the images like on a slot machine. Winners collect tickets worth no more than 75 cents of merchandise. The tickets can then be redeemed for prizes.
In Volusia County, gaming experts determined that the machines are pre-programmed to win a certain percentage of time, and skill isn't a factor, Davidson said. Despite the stop button, experts said it's impossible for players to control when the machines stop.
The arcades have been popular for years in other southern states such as Georgia. But when authorities started cracking down, because they deemed them illegal, operators moved to Florida, said Robert Jarvis, professor of gambling law at Nova Southeastern University. The owners are mostly local business people who set up the arcades within several weeks or just days, he said.
At first, the arcades appeared in central and northern Florida, mostly along truck routes, Jarvis said. From there, they spread to strip malls near residential areas, particularly those close to retiree populations.
Police took note.
In November, authorities in Volusia and St. Johns counties raided eight arcades, confiscated more than 50 slot machines and made at least one arrest for operating a gambling house. About a year ago, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office closed two slot arcades.
But a Sarasota County judge dismissed the criminal charges, finding Florida law too vague on what constitutes gambling. The ruling has been appealed.
Ultimately it will be up to state legislators or the Florida Supreme Court to hash out the arcade issue, Jarvis said.
Until then, cities such as Delray Beach struggle to figure out how to handle such arcades. The city Planning and Zoning Board this month unanimously approved the opening of Spinners Arcade in a strip mall on Linton Boulevard and Military Trail. It will be up to the City Commission to make the final decision on allowing the arcade, registered under John Bailey.
Bailey and his partner, Christopher Cataldo, run an arcade, also called Spinners Arcade, on Stirling Road in Davie, which has existed for three years.
The state Department of Business and Professional Regulation in October issued Spinners Arcade in Davie a notice for selling alcoholic beverages without a license. The violation occurred when an undercover agent visiting the arcade was told by a hostess that she would serve him beer if he played the machines. When the agent confronted Cataldo, the owner said he quit giving away beer because "everyone was coming in to his business solely for the purpose of obtaining free beer," records show.
Bailey and Cataldo declined to comment.
While authorities debate the issue, arcade enthusiast Ceil Eitman of Coconut Creek plans to continue playing. She doesn't understand what the fuss is all about.
"It's a good time," said Eitman, a semi-retired real estate agent. "It's just a giggle."@@@
