With an increasing number of gambling-for-prizes arcades being opened in Florida, the District Court of Appeal in Sarasota County is now reviewing whether a Florida law is too vague on what constitutes gambling. The Sun-Sentinel reported Friday June 4, 2004.
Like a lot of fellow residents in Kings Point, Mitzi Gerris has started playing at the Vegas Fun arcade that opened last fall in the nearby Atlantic Two shopping center on Jog Road west of Delray Beach. Vegas Fun, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is one of the companies opening gambling-for-prizes video arcades in Florida. Since September, the firm has opened two in West Palm Beach and one west of Delray Beach. The fourth in Palm Beach County will open at Greenacres Plaza at Lake Worth and Jog roads, according to C.W. "Pete" McDonald, co-owner of the parent company, which has arcades in Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio. Construction had not begun as of the last weekend in May. Debbie Taylor, one of the partners, said she wasn't expecting it to open for another three or four weeks from then.
"The project is moving forward. All their paperwork has been approved," Greenacres City Councilman Chuck Shaw said. The arcades are proving popular with retirees such as Gerris. "It's the elderly people - they're on fixed incomes. A lot of them don't go very far, they don't drive, so the bus from Kings Point leaves them right there in front of the door," said Gerris, 75. "It's not a place where you spend a lot of dollars, like in regular casinos. They play for pennies, and they enjoy it."
Instead of the traditional one-armed bandits, the machines are button-operated video-game consoles offering a variety of games, prices and payoffs. Winnings are not in currency. Instead, players receive coupons for dining, retail merchandise, groceries or even paying their credit card bills. The sudden proliferation of the arcades has generated controversy in the state. The District Court of Appeal in Sarasota County is reviewing whether a Florida law is too vague on what constitutes gambling. State Sen. Steven A. Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, has introduced a bill in the Legislature aimed at closing the loophole in the state gambling laws. "What we have here is an untaxed, unregulated industry... that has the potential to prey on our elderly," he said. He said that he isn't against gambling per se, but said that the industry should be highly taxed, in limited jurisdictions and highly regulated.
Delray Beach joined other municipalities to curb the spread of arcades after Spinners Arcade was planned for Linton Boulevard at Military Trail in the Boca Ray Plaza. City officials said the arcade has all its approvals and can open any time. The arcade in Greenacres also required special approval by City Council, which it received March 23, but not without opposition. The vote was 4-1, with Shaw objecting. Councilman Peter Noble would have preferred to reject it but was dissuaded by the legal opinion of City Solicitor Pam Terranova. She advised the council that the use was permissible under Florida statutes governing casino-type gambling. "Under the state statutes, it's classified by us as a video arcade, which is still a special exception [under city zoning regulations.] But they met all the special exception criteria for that use," city planning director Tom Lanahan said. "The issue relates to whether or not these machines are gambling devices. Per the provisions of state statutes, they are not gambling by definition."
Shaw, however, said it was not enough that such arcades meet the letter, if not the spirit, of the law. "To me, it operates exactly like a casino, and it just seems to me that it's not good for us to have to deal with people going around the law," he said. "I think it's bad public conduct for us to not voice our opposition to a mistake in the law or something overlooked." Noble was with him in principle. "Basically, I'm against gambling in the city," he said. "Our city attorney advised us that we couldn't vote against it, since our legislators have passed legislation allowing them. We're hoping the legislators change that." Shaw visited other arcades in the area and noticed they were offering not only soft drinks, but also wine to patrons. He tried to stipulate that also should be available for the new arcade in Greenacres. "If we were effectively being forced to allow them to have it, why shouldn't our citizens have that opportunity as well of having wine?" he said. But Mayor Sam Ferreri and the other council members disagreed, and the proposal was rejected.
The new Vegas Fun arcade will cover 2,250 square feet and have 50 machines. By mutual consent with the city, patrons will have to be 21 or older. Instead of feeding coins into the machines, players buy smart cards ranging from $1 to $20 in value. Chances start at 1 cent and can go as high as 8 cents. To win, players press buttons on the console to try to line up the same piece of fruit or some other symbol to win. The ideal, of course, is to hit the jackpot, which at Vegas Fun can be worth as much as $300. Players have their choice of supermarket, dining, retail merchandise and/or credit card certificates, and major supermarkets, retailers such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot and restaurant chains such as Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse and Red Lobster have signed on to the venture. So has VISA, the credit card company.
SOURCE: The Sun-Sentinel.
