Prosecutors pull their star withess from Allied Veteran gambling trial

Gambling case witness nixed

Prosecutors pull their star withess from Allied Veteran gambling trial

Posted: August 9, 2013

By LARRY HANNAN larry.hannan@jacksonville.com

A man prosecutors billed as a national expert on slot machines will not testify against any of the 57 people arrested in the Allied Veterans corruption scandal after defense attorneys questioned his credentials.

D. Robert Sertell went undercover to about 40 Allied gaming centers from Broward to Duval counties while working for the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and told police that illegal Internet gambling was going on at all of the establishments.

But this month prosecutors agreed that Sertell would not be used as a witness in the upcoming trials, and his work would not be cited. This occurred after defense attorneys asked Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester to bar Sertell from testifying, arguing that the state couldn’t back up its claim that he was an expert on gaming machines.

Attorney Mitch Stone said he will be moving for all charges to be dismissed against Kelly Mathis on the basis that the state has no criminal case without Sertell.

“The state’s entire case is predicated on Bob Sertell’s claims that gambling was occurring,” Stone said. “And from what we can tell, the state never even checked his credentials before hiring him.”
Sertell doesn’t have a college diploma, his work has never been peer-reviewed, and his methods have never been subjected to any sort of scrutiny, Stone said.

Reached at his home in New Jersey, Sertell said he knew nothing about being taken off the case. He was also critical of the attorneys who criticized his methods.

“They’re trying to claim what’s needed is pure scientific procedures and make those 40 visits exist in a vacuum,” Sertell said. “But this is not just me going in and examining these machines for 20 minutes.”

This investigation was going on for years, and his observations only back up the mountains of evidence prosecutors have that illegal gambling was going on, Sertell said.

The St. Augustine-based Allied Veterans of the World operated dozens of gaming centers that were billed as veterans charities. Authorities said the gaming centers were actually a $300 million gambling operation where the owners and operators kept most of the profits.

Prosecutors said Mathis, charged with racketeering and money laundering, knew the organization was breaking the law and was helping them get away with it. They have dubbed him the “mastermind” of the illegal scheme.

Stone said Allied didn’t break the law and Mathis’ legal advice was sound because they were offering Internet sweepstakes that did not qualify as gambling under Florida law.

Mathis is one of 12 people who have not waived a speedy trial. They are scheduled to go on trial next month if the motion to dismiss is denied.

The affidavit filed when Mathis and the others were arrested said Sertell visited the centers and saw that people were not there to surf the Web or make long-distance calls, which is technically what Allied claimed it was offering. Everyone he observed was playing Internet sweepstakes games.

Sertell also said the games were really illegal slot machines with names like Captain Cash, Lucky Shamrocks, Smokin 7’s and Money Bunny. The customer selects a theme that appears on the computer as a spinning wheel slot-machine-type game.

This affidavit identified Sertell as “a gaming machine expert.” It also said he’d been “qualified as an expert on gaming machines and their operating characteristics and has testified as such in federal, state, including Florida and local courts in this country.”

But Stone argued that Sertell lacked the expertise to determine whether the sweepstakes games were really illegal slot machines.

Sertell said he could tell the games were illegal just by looking at them and playing a few rounds.
But in order to prove that a program was illegal, an expert analysis of the software was necessary, and Sertell never did that, Stone said.

When he was deposed, Sertell also said he had no expertise in computer language, software, programming, source codes or computers in general.

Under Florida law, a person cannot testify as an expert witness unless their conclusions are supported by a legitimate scientific basis. Stone argued that Sertell’s claims were purely opinion.

Officials with the Office of Statewide Prosecution with the Florida Attorney General’s Office agreed that Sertell would not be used as an expert witness before Lester ruled on the issue.

Stone and attorney Curtis Fallgatter, who represents four other Allied defendants, said prosecutors have also agreed not to call Sertell as a witness for any other reason during the trials.

Jenn Meale, spokeswoman for Attorney General Pam Bondi, said the office would have no comment while the cases remained active.

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office referred all questions to the Attorney General’s Office.
Co-defendants Nelson Cuba, Robbie Freitas, and Jerry Bass have waived their right to a speedy trial and won’t go on trial until the first defendants are dealt with. Cuba is the president of the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police, Freitas a union vice president and Bass the national commander of Allied Veterans of the World.

The next hearing for the defendants who have not waived a speedy trial is Aug. 23, and the motion to dismiss will likely be heard at that time.

The first trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 16.

http://staugustine.com/news/florida-news/2013-08-08

 

Ohio: Rise in Self Exclusion by Gambling Addicts

Central Ohio Sees Rise In Gambling Addicts Banning Themselves From Betting

Wednesday July 17, 2013

 

The Republican

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Imagine an addiction so strong, you spend away your house, you alienate family and you lose your sense of control.

Gambling.

The fear of failing is so great for some, especially with nearly a dozen new casinos and racinos popping up across the state, that they're banning themselves from betting.

10TV spoke with the first person to put himself on a growing state-wide list to keep addicts out of casinos.

Justin Gale said the first time he went into a casino was to win money, but he left with an addiction.

“The first thing that would happen when I would walk into a gambling facility is my heart would start racing, the anticipation would be there, the excitement, the hope that today’s going to be a day, going to be a great day,” Gale said.

Gambling at casinos and race tracks for 35 years, Gale said he could not stop.

“No matter if I won or lost, I wanted to place a bet as soon as possible,” Gale said. “Any money a compulsive gambler can get their hands on, they’re betting it.”

Gale, who is a recovering addict, called gambling his drug that allowed him to be free.

“It was a feeling of like Novocain for me,” Gale said. “When I was out gambling, I had no problems. I had no worries.”

Outside of the casinos and race tracks, he said nearly every relationship he ever had was ruined.

“It was my father’s dying wish 15 years ago that I’d quit gambling, and even then, I wasn’t ready to quit,” he said. “I still kept gambling.”

After losing the majority of his money for decades, Gale decided it was time to stop. He then joined support groups, went to therapy and even banned himself from betting.

He said he signed up for the voluntary exclusion list a month before the casino in Cleveland opened.

Gale said he did it because he needed help.

Now, more than 300 people have followed suit.

Since the Columbus casino and racino have opened last year, the number of gambling addicts asking for treatment has more than doubled, says Paul Coleman, the CEO of Maryhaven.

“When you’re taking that money away from things that you and your family need, that’s a big problem,” Coleman said. “If you get into illegal activities to get that money that is probably a bigger problem.”

One Columbus mother told 10TV her vice was Internet cafes.

“To me, it was a bad lifestyle,” said Diane, who asked 10TV News to only use her first name. “I guess I was out of control if I spent $300, $400.”

She said that the Internet cafes were easy and convenient for her, and thus the cause of many of her problems. She has worked hard to stop the spending and is now in treatment.

“It was really hard emotionally,” Diane said. “Going home and feeling bad about the choices I made, and knowing that I wanted to do something different.”

Both Diane and Justin hope that because they told their stories, they will be able to help others from making the same mistakes they did.

“People ask me, ‘Does it get easier over time?’” Gale said. “The answer’s yes. That being said, you can’t let your guard down for one second because in the next minute, you could place your next bet.”

Maryhaven’s new gambling addiction treatment facility is scheduled to open in the next few weeks, thanks to more than $270,000 appropriated funds from the state’s casino taxes.

Watch 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for the latest updates.

 

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2013/07/17/columbus-central-ohio-sees-rise-in-gambling-addicts-banning-themselves-from-betting.html

 

 

Ohio: Internet Cafes

Ohio House should act

Senate bill would close Internet cafes, but awaits concurrence

Sunday July 14, 2013

The Ohio Senate recently took action to put Internet sweepstakes cafes out of business and end Ohioans’ misery.

It’s the second such effort in two months.

But this time, the Senate is giving these illegal gambling storefronts no leeway: The new amendment, added to a casino bill voted on June 27, carries the previously neglected emergency clause to force an immediate shutdown of these businesses that prey on the poor, feed gambling addictions and bring crime into communities.

Emergency legislation waives the usual 90-day waiting period to take effect, and it can’t be overturned at the ballot box through referendum.

Senate Bill 141 now awaits consideration by the House, where there has been strong support for banning the sweepstakes cafes through emergency legislation. While the House isn't expected to reconvene until September, it could always do so sooner for an urgent matter of public protection.
This is such an issue.

Ohio's top law-enforcement officials say these sweepstakes cafes are a front for multistate gambling syndicates and money laundering. This spring, Ohio’s 8th District Court of Appeals in Cleveland upheld three Internet cafe convictions, ruling that the businesses were illegal gambling parlors.

Until a new law passed this year, officials could only guess how many cafes were operating statewide; 339 have now identified themselves.

These unregulated mini-casinos are devastating the lives of Ohioans. As The Dispatch reported, nearly two-thirds of those being treated for gambling addiction at Maryhaven, a Columbus addiction-treatment center, blame Internet sweepstakes cafes for getting them hooked.

"They are ubiquitous," said Paul Coleman, president and chief executive officer of Maryhaven. "You don't have to drive across town or out of town to a casino."

At this moment, cafe proponents are working to collect more than 231,000 signatures by Sept. 3 to overturn the legislature’s first ban, House Bill 7, by putting a referendum on the November 2014 ballot. If that succeeds, the ban would be postponed until the vote.

Cafes would get a whole year longer to continue raking in enormous profits. In the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park, for example, police recently seized $1.2 million during a raid of the Cyber Oasis Internet cafe.

And the industry would have an entire year to try to confuse Ohioans. The Internet cafes have deep pockets and their campaign would be slick and well-funded.

Not only does Senate Bill 141 include an immediate ban that cannot be repealed, it offers what Sen. President Keith Faber, R-Celina, believes it is a better approach.

While House Bill 7 caps the cafes’ sweepstakes prizes at $10, Senate Bill 141 approaches the problem in a different way: It bans operations that give out prizes exceeding 5 percent of a business’ gross receipts.

Ohioans have always had a wary approach to gambling, approving it only in rare cases where it benefited schools or cash-strapped local governments, and then only under tight supervision. The cafes sneaked into the state with no permission, no oversight and some operators with criminal backgrounds.

It’s time for the Internet sweepstakes cafe industry to pack up and leave Ohio. The legislature should prove the familiar saying about gambling: The House always wins.


http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2013/07/14/ohio-house-should-act.html

Editorial

Hooked by design

Internet cafés fostered gambling addiction in Ohio’s communities

Thursday June 20, 2013

The Ohio Senate this summer gambled with the lives of some of the state’s most-vulnerable residents — and all Ohioans lost.

This is obvious from a story in Monday’s Dispatch reporting that nearly two-thirds of those being treated at Maryhaven, a Columbus addiction-treatment center, for gambling addiction blame Internet sweepstakes cafés for getting them hooked.

The cafés — banned by the General Assembly in May, but granted a chance to survive by referendum— are a convenient temptation.

“They are ubiquitous,” said Paul Coleman, president and chief executive officer of Maryhaven. “You don’t have to drive across town or out of town to a casino.”

In fact, there’s one right by Maryhaven.

The cost to taxpayers is sizable. The cafés tie up law enforcement. They siphon dollars from legitimate charitable gaming. They prey on the poor. And unlike the casinos or state lottery, which share proceeds with schools or local governments, Internet cafés benefit only their operators. They are a drain on society.

Maryhaven added gambling to its treatment center three years ago, using a modest $25,000 grant from the Columbus Foundation. It expects to expand to a new location, using $278,000 from casino-tax proceeds.

Internet-café gambling has become such a problem that it’s now recognized in the same category as drug and alcohol addiction by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, consulted by medical and treatment professionals.

Café betting gets its claws into people’s brains. “It just appears the way the machines are set up, it’s getting ready to hit,” said a Whitehall woman undergoing treatment at Maryhaven. “That’s what keeps you playing. But it’s a rip-off.”

The working mother, 56, figures she lost $200 to $300 a week gambling in the cafés.

Patrons buy phone cards or Internet time, which come with sweepstakes credits that can be played on café terminals with computer games that look like slots, poker and other casino games. The bigger the purchase, the more credits one gets to play.

Ohio lawmakers were told this spring by top law-enforcement officials that the cafés often are fronts for illegal gambling, organized crime and money-laundering. The Senate should have closed them down immediately by passing the House bill as emergency legislation. Laws necessary to protect the public peace, health or safety do not require a 90-day waiting period to take effect; better yet, they aren’t subject to a referendum vote.

But the Senate — having previously sat on the legislation for reasons that seemed fishy — passed up that opportunity. While the Ohio House speaker rounded up the votes to add the emergency clause, Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, couldn’t get widespread support in his chamber.

Now the sweepstakes-café industry is gathering 231,000 signatures for the November 2014 ballot, meaning the new law wouldn’t take effect until voters weigh in. Some ban.

Meanwhile, the more than 500 Internet sweepstakes cafés around the state likely will remain open during a long, well-financed fight.

And, as the extremely disturbing report from Maryhaven indicates, Ohioans will continue to struggle.


http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2013/06/20/hooked-by-design.html

Does Chuck E. Cheese turn kids into gambling addicts?

Does Chuck E. Cheese turn kids into gambling addicts?

Tuesday, 04 June 2013 12:18

 

BY REBECCA SHEEHAN
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Everyone has been inside one of these. The stage is set: Kids are running around in a panic, sweating trying to utilize their tokens to the max in order to win as many tickets as possible in order to cash them in for a useless and unnecessary prize. Bells and sirens are going off, cash machines are dolling out tokens and the sound of “ching, ching,” is echoing all around you. No folks we are not in an Atlantic City Casino, instead, we are talking about America’s family fun place: Chuck E. Cheese.

Although Chuck E. Cheese is supposed to be aimed at being good ole' family fun, instead it resembles all too much the sights and sounds of being on a casino floor. The only difference one can see is that in this establishment the children are doing all the gambling.

A Time article is claiming that thanks to a new legislation in Florida targeting Internet café sweepstake gambling operations, there’s an argument to be made that some Chuck E. Cheese games involve gambling and are therefore illegal. And considering the main clientele at Chuck E. Cheese are in fact children, this may be an issue to consider.

Last month, the state of Florida legislation specifically outlaws video gambling machines, as well as small coin-operated games of chance. According to the Miami Herald, with the new legislation law enforcement officers ended up "seizing dozens of machines from mom-and-pop stores and cafes and arresting their owners.”

In recent years there has been a crackdown on this type of Internet Café’s. According to a Wall Street Journal report on the efforts in places such as Ohio, South Carolina, and Michigan to shut down — or at least regulate — these cafes, which are filled with simulated slot-machine games and often operate totally out in the open in strip mall locations. While the gambling games vary, most of the machines require the participant to add money to a plastic card and have become very popular among the elderly population.

After internet café’s started popping up all over Massachusetts with gaming machines, Attorney General Martha Coakley affirmed that these operations were illegal in the summer of 2011.
“This kind of activity, gambling, is not allowed under Massachusetts law,” Coakley said, according to the Boston Globe. “They are totally unregulated, there’s no oversight, and there is no protection for the consumer.”

This isn’t the first time that the Chuck E. Cheese chain has been discussed in the same breath as gambling. In 2011, a mom in San Diego sued the company for $5 million because the “casino-style gambling devices” could put children on the road to gambling addiction.

 

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/style/does-chuck-e-cheese-turn-kids-into-gambling-addicts

 

 

Chuck E Cheese: Creating Young Gambling Addicts

Chuck E. Cheese: Where a Kid Can Gamble Like an Adult

By Brad TuttleMay 14, 2013

What with all the flashing screens, dinging bells, and glazed-over customers absorbed in the games at hand, a Chuck E. Cheese arcade bears quite a resemblance to the slot machine section of a casino. Are kids, in fact, gambling in between their pizza and soda?

Thanks to new legislation in Florida targeting Internet café sweepstake gambling operations, there’s an argument to be made that some Chuck E. Cheese games involve gambling and are therefore illegal. Since kids are the chain’s main clientele, that’s a problem for more reason than one.

Many states have cracked down on Internet café gambling in recent years. Last summer, the Wall Street Journal reported on the efforts in places such as Ohio, South Carolina, and Michigan to shut down—or at least regulate—these cafes, which are filled with simulated slot-machine games and often operate totally out in the open in strip mall locations. While the games vary, most involve plastic swipe cards that are purchased by customers and give users a certain number of “sweepstakes” entries in games of chance played on video screens. The games, which offer cash prizes, have been especially popular among the elderly. “It has become my world,” one 70-year-old woman told the WSJ while inside her neighborhood gambling café in Ohio.

Such Internet cafes began appearing in Massachusetts in large numbers around 2009, and in the summer of 2011, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley affirmed that these operations were illegal. “This kind of activity, gambling, is not allowed under Massachusetts law,” Coakley said at the time, according to the Boston Globe. “They are totally unregulated, there’s no oversight, and there is no protection for the consumer.”


Read more: http://business.time.com/2013/05/14/chuck-e-cheese-where-a-kid-can-gamble-like-an-adult/#ixzz2TMPH4hFQ

Florida bans slot-like games

Florida gov signs ban on parlors with slot-like computer games; takes effect immediately

Associated Press
Apr 10, 2013 10:16 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Up to 1,000 strip-mall parlors where people can play slot-like computer games became illegal Wednesday in Florida, with the governor signing a ban on the heels of a federal investigation into a charity that authorities say was an illegal gambling front.

The law took effect immediately after Gov. Rick Scott signed it, roughly a month after nearly 60 people were arrested in connection with the racketeering investigation into Allied Veterans of the World. The arrests prompted the resignation of former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who did consulting work for the group but has not been accused of wrongdoing.

The Legislature and governor acted with dizzying speed, leaving many questions as to the law’s impact and how the centers known as Internet cafes would react. The ban is also expected to directly affect adult amusement arcades that cater to senior citizens.

Scott, who quietly signed the bill behind closed doors, called the ban the “right thing to do for our state.”

Enforcing the ban will fall to local authorities. But some arcade operators said they weren’t taking any chances.

Johnny Figueria, manager of the Tropicana Bingo & Arcade in Hialeah, said nearly 100 machines were shut down Tuesday as a precaution until he and other arcade managers understood the law.

“This law will affect everyone here,” he said in Spanish. “There are people who come here in the morning to play bingo and then stay later to play the machines until their son comes to pick them up, so they won’t be home alone.”

Four employees were told not to show up for work Wednesday, and bingo manager Kenia Landa said she was worried she may lose her job.

“I feel so sorry, including me, because I don’t know what is going to happen,” she said. “The only support I have is this job.”

During a brief question-and-answer session with reporters, Scott brushed aside questions as to jobs that could be lost by the new ban. Scott, who has made job creation his primary focus, instead said legislators should pass tax-cut measures he is pushing this year.

But Scott could soon have another legal battle on his hands.

Bruce Rogow, a well-known constitutional lawyer in Florida, met behind closed doors with more than 100 arcade operators in Pompano Beach.

“I think that there is probably no choice but to file a lawsuit,” said Rogow.

Scott and legislators acted in the wake of the Allied Veterans of the World charity scandal. The charity —which was affiliated with dozens of storefront parlors — was accused of running a $290 million illegal gambling business that directed most of the proceeds into its owners’ pockets.

The parlors started sprouting around the state within the last six years amid debates over their legality. The game makers argued they were legal sweepstakes because there is a predetermined number of winners, similar to a McDonald’s Monopoly game or Coca-Cola cap contest. Unlike slot machines run at casinos, the operations were not heavily regulated.

Most of the parlors sell customers Internet or phone time, allowing them to check email and surf the Web on computers. Instead, however, many customers play games like “Captain Cash” and “Lucky Shamrocks,” and players are encouraged to spend more to win more, investigators said.

Existing law allows slot machines in casinos run by the Seminole Tribe and at dog and horse tracks in South Florida. The new law makes it clear that machines that simulate slot machines or other casino type games are illegal elsewhere in the state.

The legislation also puts limits on sweepstakes and says arcades cannot award gift cards or cash to winners. It also says arcades are supposed to have coin-operated games that involve an element of skill, not casino-style games of chance.

Gale Fontaine, president of the Florida Arcade Association, called on officials to enforce the law equitably. Her organization said the law would also outlaw machines operated at bowling alleys, airports and skating rinks.

Supporters of the law, however, said lawmakers were clarifying gray areas in the state’s gambling law that had not kept pace with new technology.
___
Associated Press reporter Suzette Laboy contributed to this story from Hialeah, Fla.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/florida-gov-signs-ban-on-parlors-with-slot-like-computer-games-takes-effect-immediately/2013/04/10/ba615460-a203-11e2-bd52-614156372695_story.html

Should Florida ban Internet cafes?

Today's Buzz: Should Florida ban Internet cafes?

Tuesday's Buzz: Should Florida ban Internet cafes?

March 26, 2013
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board

Last week the Florida House overwhelmingly passed a bill to ban Internet cafes, which critics call strip-mall casinos. Café operators have taken advantage of a loophole in state law that allows businesses to offer "sweepstakes" games that resemble virtual slot machines. This month federal and state authorities accused a company operating 49 cafes in Florida of running an illegal gambling operation and charged 57 people. Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who had consulted for the company while still a state legislator, resigned, though she has not been charged. A Senate bill to ban the cafes hasn't come up for a floor vote yet. Opponents of cafes say that they target senior citizens and the poor, and have never been approved by lawmakers or voters like other forms of gambling in Florida. But supporters say they are harmless fun, and should be regulated, not banned – especially when the state allows or encourages other forms of gambling. Should Gov. Scott sign a ban if legislators send him one? Talk about it!


http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-03-26/news/os-todays-buzz-florida-ban-internet-cafes-032613_1_ban-internet-cafes-today-s-buzz-offer-sweepstakes-games

When NO! Never Means NO!

Even though Florida voters said "NO!" Genting refuses to take "NO!" for an answer, salivating to invade Florida filled with tourists' dollars and waiting to suck discretionary dollars from Massachusetts with a tax-free Tribal Casino.  

Keep watching!

Florida voters won't decide fate of big casinos

By Gary Fineout on December 07, 2012

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's gambling future, including the fate of its horse and dog tracks, Internet cafes and tribal-run casinos, appears likely to be decided by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

After spending nearly $1 million on an effort to let voters decide what kind of gambling to allow, a major casino developer has decided to work with legislators over the next two years.

Companies affiliated with Genting, the Malaysian gambling powerhouse, had poured money this year into a political committee that hired consultants, lawyers and a company known for collecting voter signatures for constitutional amendments.

But Genting executives this week met with legislative leaders to tell them they would not move forward on the amendment to allow casino gambling.

Instead they want to see what emerges from a promised comprehensive look at gambling to be launched by GOP leaders.

"Hopefully something will come from that that makes sense," said Brian Ballard, a Tallahassee lobbyist who represents a Genting subsidiary. "We want to work with them. We want it to be a collaborative process."

Genting has already spent nearly a half-billion dollars to acquire real estate in downtown Miami for a proposed mega resort. But efforts to get state legislators to approve a bill to allow major casinos in South Florida have failed during the past two years.

This past year there was a push for legislation that would have granted casino licenses to developers who pledged to spend at least $2 billion on a resort. It was one of the most heavily lobbied bills of the 2012 session and drew opposition from such heavyweights as the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Disney.

After the last legislative defeat, Genting began considering whether to ask voters to approve casino gambling.

Florida voters three times in the past have rejected constitutional amendments to allow casino gambling. But voters approved a measure in 2004 to give South Florida counties the ability to decide whether to add slot machines to existing dog and horse tracks.

Since that vote, gambling has expanded in the state. Voters in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties voted in favor of adding slots to local tracks and the state reached deals that have allowed casinos owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida to expand.

New Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, has established a stand-alone legislative committee to look at gambling issues over the next two years.

Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples and chairman of the new committee, said he plans to hire a firm to do an extensive study of gambling in the state and the potential impact of any changes.

Richter said his goal is to come up with something that will "minimize any regrets" with whatever lawmakers decide. Richter also said it is likely the committee will hold hearings on gambling in several locations around the state.
___
Follow Gary Fineout on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fineout

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-12-07/florida-voters-wont-decide-fate-of-big-casinos

Genting Buys Florida Support

[Genting is the financial supporter of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts.]

Gambling giant spends more than $900,000 on pro-casino PAC

September 21, 2012|By Kathleen Haughney, Tallahassee Bureau

 

TALLAHASSEE –

— Malaysian-based gambling giant Genting has pumped $936,500 since April into a political action committee designed to sell the concept of Las Vegas-style casinos to voters in the Sunshine State, documents made public Friday show. But the casino company is still coy about its exact aims in Florida.

 

"We're still in a wait-and-see and we'll see what happens [mode]," said Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the Genting-backed PAC, New Jobs and Revenue for Florida.

More than a year ago, Genting swept into South Florida, spending $236 million to buy the bayfront home of the Miami Herald. It also took over the mortgage for the neighboring Omni – details of that deal were not disclosed – and set to work trying to persuade state lawmakers they should allow gambling companies like Genting, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts into the Florida market.
Deluxe hotel casinos, the companies argued, would bring far more to the state in terms of tourism, jobs and tax revenue than exisiting pari-mutuels and the casinos belonging to the Seminole and Miccosukee Indian tribes.

But lawmakers balked. Genting then began looking at how to take the issue over their heads and directly to voters, ultimately forming a political action committee in April that is designed to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot so ordinary Floridians could decide whether destination casinos are appropriate or not. The Florida Legislature wouldn't have any say.

Hughes, in an interview on Friday ,said Genting is still trying to figure out if taking the matter to the voters is the best way forward for the company. Meanwhile, via the PAC, the company has paid out thousands to pollsters, media consultants and attorneys to do research and preparatory work to see if placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot would stand a good chance of success.
Of the $936,500 put into the committee as of Sept. 10, $860,435.75 has been spent, the documents filed with the state show. Genting is the sole contributor to the commitee through its Miami and New York offices.

Since April, the PAC has shelled out more than $390,000 to Fabrizio, McLaughlin and Associates, an Alexandria, Va.- based media and campaign consulting group with expertise in polling — and with ties to Florida Gov. Rick Scott. It's also paid Hughes, a former spokesman for Scott and the state Republican Party, $11,250 for media advice, as well as $350,000 to Fort Lauderdale attorney Bruce Rogow, a high-profile appellate lawyer who has argued numerous cases before the state Supreme Court. That court would have to approve the language of any referendum question placed on a statewide ballot.

Hughes wouldn't comment specifically on what Genting has been doing and whether they've taken polls to gauge public opinion on allowing destination casinos in Florida.

Running a campaign to amend Florida'a constitution is a monumental undertaking. To succeed, the committee would have to gather the signatures of more than 600,000 voters, win Supreme Court approval of ballot language – and spend multiple millions on a statewide advertising blitz to secure the approval of at least 60% of the voters casting ballots.

Several previous referendum campaigns intended to expand gambling have failed – though Floridians haven't voted on the issue since 1994.

Genting isn't ruling out trying again to win over the Florida Legislature, though. Other casino companies, which have not signed on to Genting's potential referendum strategy, are also talking to legislative leaders in hopes of bringing the issue up again at the 2013 legislative session.
"We're continuing to pitch the benefits of destination resorts," said Nick Iarossi, a lobbyist for Las Vegas Sands, which is owned by mega Republican financial backer Sheldon Adelson.

Earlier this summer, state Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, who will be president of the Florida Senate for the next two years, told the Sun Sentinel that he believed that the next session of the Legislature will take a comprehensive look at gambling and determine where it wants the state to go in terms of its compact with the Seminole Tribe, Internet cafes, pari-mutuels and the plans for destination casinos.

Opponents of gambling are already preparing their arguments in opposition.

The political action committee No Casinos Inc., along with Walt Disney World and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, have held news conferences and released TV and Internet ads over the past year arguing against allowing destination resorts, which they claim would bring more crime to South Florida and not generate the type of jobs the state wanted.

A cadre of top lobbyists have also been engaged by the well-heeled foes of gambling to argue against destination casinos.

John Sowinski, president of No Casinos Inc., said that his group is "waiting with interest" to see if the Genting-funded PAC goes through with a push for a constitutional amendment. He said he was uncertain that Genting could pitch the idea of the casino resorts so convincingly that Florida voters would conclude they need them.

"I don't think that they can come up with the ballot language or an idea to stand the test of time," he said.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-09-21/news/fl-genting-raises-big-money-20120921_1_destination-casinos-ballot-language-las-vegas-sands

SC Sheriff: 107 gaming machines seized

The Associated Press

Last modified: 2012-08-17T13:19:19Z

Published: Friday, Aug. 17, 2012

Copyright 2012 . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Greenville Sheriff's deputies and State Law Enforcement Division agents have seized 107 video gambling machines at three internet cafe sites.

Greenville County Sheriff Steve Loftis says the machines look more like computers than the old video poker machines. Loftis says undercover agents found most are slot games with cash payouts.

Greenville prosecutor Walt Wilkins says the internet cafes are gambling houses and law enforcement intends to halt the illegal gambling.

No arrests have been made.
 Twelve years ago, the state Supreme Court pulled the plug on video poker. Defenders in courtrooms across the state argue the new machines are legal as long as they promote products or services.   http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/17/4734448/sc-sheriff-107-gaming-machines.html  

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/17/4734448/sc-sheriff-107-gaming-machines.html#storylink=cpy

South Carolina’s Gambling Underworld Mixes Politics, Corruption

August 16, 2012

South Carolina’s Gambling Underworld Mixes Politics, Corruption

by Chad Hills

 

South Carolina’s history with gambling is not pretty. Nearly 33,000 video poker machines were shut down, banned and removed from South Carolina, back in 2000, due to a South Carolina Supreme Court legal decision that found the pro-video poker referendum to be unconstitutional “because the state does not provide for a ballot initiative in its constitution.”

Many families were glad to see the video poker machines go, as they had quickly become addictive and problematic.

Here we are in 2012, and video gambling machines are re-surfacing in South Carolina – this time under the cloak of “sweepstakes machines.”

Where do politics, gambling and corruption mix in South Carolina?

Former Mayor Bob Coble is now lobbying for Pace-O-Matic, a manufacturer of “sweepstakes machines” being used to reintroduce video gambling to South Carolina in “Internet Sweepstakes Cafes.” Richland County Councilman Damon Jeter, failed to disclose he’s on the payroll of sweepstakes promoter, Magic Minutes. Lexington Town Councilman Danny Frazier was caught red-handed, providing instructions on how to set up shop for illegal gambling machines. And the list grows …

Here are several news reports with more detail:

• Say It Ain’t So, Mayor Bob: Video Gambling’s New Payroll” [Free Times, City Watch, 6/13/12]
• Stacking the Deck: Politicians’ Ties Complicate Efforts to Stop Return of Video Poker [Free Times, 8/1/12]
• A River (of Sleaze) Runs Through It: Video Poker 2.0 [Free Times, 8/15/12]
• Key Figure In Alleged SC Gambling Ring Responds [FitsNews.com, 8/15/12]
• Audio recordings tie Lexington councilman to video poker business [WIS-TV, Channel 10, 8/15-16/12 ... reporting to be continued]

Meanwhile, a tragic commentary was playing out in the background of this illegal gambling fiasco. A federal court in Columbia sentenced a South Carolina woman to 2.5 years in prison for embezzling money nearly $400,000 from the South Carolina Hospitality Association to support her “decades-long addiction to gambling.”

As a result of the missing funds, according to a suicide note, the hospitality association’s director needlessly took his own life. Yet, one more poignant reminder how gambling addiction can negatively impact more than just the lives of gamblers.

Recent news of South Carolina’s gambling underworld reminds me of the political gambling-corruption debacle which unfolded in Alabama back in 2010.

What did Alabama’s politicians and officials learn?

Don’t touch gambling!

Dig Deeper …

• Don’t Touch that Thing! | CitizenLink
• Alabama Gambling Corruption; Gilley’s Can of Worms | CitizenLink
• Gambling and Crime Gambling and Organized Crime
• Gambling A Bigger Problem Than Alcohol Among U.S. Adults
• Quick Guide to Gambling Articles – CitizenLink

http://www.citizenlink.com/2012/08/16/south-carolinas-gambling-underworld-mixes-politics-corruption/

Florida: "Gaming" the system

Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012

Editorial: Either ban ‘Internet cafes’ or demand a fair tax payment

By Jac Versteeg

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

                          

Big gambling interests like Genting, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts prefer the term “gaming,” but that’s not the only way they game the English language.

The latest push to con Florida voters into changing the state constitution to expand casino gambling calls itself “New Jobs and Revenue for Florida.” Folks, it’s not about jobs for Florida. It’s about profits for the casinos.

Now the big boys of gambling are being copied by their pernicious little cousins, the so-called “Internet cafes.” As The Post’s John Kennedy reported last week, the rogue gambling outfits are throwing campaign contributions at former friends and foes. One brazenly misleading front group doles out money under the name “Save Our Internet Access.” Groups that want the Legislature to be kind to Internet cafes have given at least $700,000.

The “Internet access” they’re trying to save has nothing to do with your ability to Google trivia. They want to preserve “access” to a loophole in Florida law that has let them run mini-casinos in strip shopping centers and pay little to nothing in taxes on their profits. The Legislature could have shut them down this year. But banning them — or at least regulating them to make them pay a fair tax rate — got shunted aside in the failed push to bring Las Vegas-style casinos. Of course, as with the casinos, as long as the issues are unresolved, campaign cash flows freely.

Ballot initiatives financed by gambling interests can end up hurting Florida, history shows. The 2004 vote that authorized slot machines at racetracks in Miami-Dade and Broward counties has led to a series of lawsuits and the relentless push for still more high-stakes gambling, while falling well short of the promised income for education.

Legislators might have proposed anti-casino amendments. Or they could have heavily regulated and taxed any new “resorts” to reduce the potential invasion. Defaulting to gambling-backed amendments will produce a worse outcome. Legislators should not follow the same pattern for Internet cafes.

Jac Wilder VerSteeg

for The Post Editorial Board


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/opinion/editorial-either-ban-internet-cafes-or-demand-a-fa/nQFxs/

Florida: Preying on the Poor

Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, and a sponsor of the casino bill, called the lottery a form of ``predatory'' gambling that preys on the poor.


From Stop Predatory Gambling:

Fla. Lottery posts its biggest year ever
Written by GARY FINEOUT
    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ While Florida leaders remain divided over the future of gambling in the state, there's one game that keeps growing and growing.
The Florida Lottery this week wrapped up the most financially successful year in its 24-year history of selling tickets. The state-created lottery boosted its sales to $4.45 billion, an increase of more than $440 million over the previous fiscal year.

The booming sales show that the lottery has recovered from the recession and had led the top official who runs it to dream of eventually turning the Lottery into a $5 billion-a-year enterprise.

``It's a great thing we can grow this,'' said Florida Lottery Secretary Cynthia O'Connell.

State officials estimate that the increased sales will result in $1.31 billion going to schools and to pay for programs such as the state's Bright Futures scholarship.

A key to the increased sales was the popularity of scratch-off tickets. Lottery officials this past year introduced nearly 50 new scratch-off games and aggressively marketed them. Last year, Florida Lottery officials also went along with a proposal to revamp Powerball, the game available in more than 40 states. The changes resulted in higher ticket prices, but it also led to larger starting jackpots.

In October, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, agreed to end its long-standing refusal to sell lottery tickets in its U.S. stores after reaching a deal with the Florida Lottery. The retailer began a pilot program at more than two dozen neighborhood markets that stretch across central, southwest and South Florida.

Florida voters first approved the lottery in 1986 and tickets went on sale in early 1988. Sales peaked at $4.2 billion back in 2008 but dropped as the state's economy soured.

The role of the Florida Lottery came under fire from some GOP legislators this year when lawmakers were considering legislation that would have authorized the creation of mega-casinos in South Florida.

Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, and a sponsor of the casino bill, called the lottery a form of ``predatory'' gambling that preys on the poor.

She initially discussed revamping oversight of the lottery as part of her legislation. In the end, however, lawmakersdid not approve the casino bill - and they were divided whether to regulate or ban sweepstakes operations called Internet cafes that have been labeled storefront casinos.

Legislators also went along with recommendations from O'Connell and Gov. Rick Scott to expand lottery operations in the coming year, including the installation of 350 so-called ``full service'' vending machines that sell both instant tickets and tickets from games such as Powerball or Lotto.

The Florida Lottery also got permission to spend an additional $4 million in the coming year on advertising.


http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10332&Itemid=199

May 24, 2012

Two arrests made in strip mall casino beating

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. —

Deputies say managers at a strip mall casino shut off surveillance cameras before they beat a customer.

Deputies arrested two managers at the Ez Play in Deltona in connection with the alleged attack on Saturday.

Investigators said surveillance cameras were shut off for three hours at the strip mall casino on Saxon Blvd.

During that time, officials said, they believe the employees severely beat customer Ralph Altro.

Altro, his face swollen and bruised, he could hardly speak when WFTV's Blaine Tolison met with him at Halifax Medical Center.

No one at Ez Play would answer questions about Altro.

Christopher Morrissey and Dominic Rizzolo were running the strip mall casino at the time. They claim Altro started an argument with them.

Tuesday night, WFTV found pages and pages of information about Rizzolo and his well-known mob family out of Las Vegas, with a shocking history of crimes.

Las Vegas authorities first arrested Rizzolo four years ago for extortion and battery with a deadly weapon.

A sheriff's office report shows the surveillance cameras were working at the time of the fight. The two men working inside claim Altro got physical first, but that another worker turned all of the cameras off before anything happened.

Deputies found Altro bloodied from the fight. This is the inside Ez play.

According to police, Rizzolo claims Altro grabbed Morrissey's shirt and reached for something in his pocket. He told investigators he hit Altro, but he didn't know how many times.

People at the establishment today were surprised to hear about it.

"All these guys who work behind the counter, they're great. And I feel totally safe here," one customer said.

Inside the strip mall casino, deputies said they found blood on the tables, chairs and on the counters.

There was a hammer on the ground and evidence that the sink was used.

Rizzolo's father, Rick Rizzolo, is a convicted Racketeer and owner of a strip club in Las Vegas. Rick was convicted of organized crime violence and fraud at the club, where a Kansas man was left paralyzed after a brutal fight.

Over the past year, there have been more than 30 calls for service at Ez Play. The calls range from drug overdoses to burglaries.

Ez play is owned by Dynamite Sweepstakes LLC.

http://www.wdbo.com/news/news/local/two-arrested-connection-strip-mall-casino-beating/nPCNG/

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley files civil suit to shut down Internet cafe in Chicopee

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley files civil suit to shut down Internet cafe in Chicopee
Published: Friday, May 04, 2012
By Dan Ring, The Republican

BOSTON -- Attorney General Martha M. Coakley has filed a civil suit against an Internet slots cafe in Chicopee operated by a former mayoral chief of staff in Springfield who was previously convicted of federal tax fraud, alleging the cafe is an illegal gambling operation in violation of state consumer protection laws.

The civil lawsuit was filed in Boston against Express Internet Center at 205 Exchange St. in Chicopee, which offers casino-style computer games such as "Wheel Deal," "Snake Eyes," and "Lucky Loot," the suit said. Also named in the suit is the business's operator and corporate member, Anthony M. Ardolino, 42, of 128 Dayton St. in Springfield, who was chief of staff for former Mayor Michael J. Albano from 1996 to 2001.

According to the civil suit, Express Internet and Ardolino promoted illegal gambling through electronic slot machine games in direct violation of the state’s Consumer Protection Act and related regulations by the attorney general that were approved in June of last year.

APMartha Coakley

In 2007, Ardolino was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Springfield to a year in a minimum-security federal prison in a criminal fraud case involving his part ownerships in a couple of downtown Springfield bars.

Ardolino had pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to defraud the federal government and four counts of filing false personal income tax returns.

Anthony Ardolino's lawyer, Benjamin M. Coyle of Bacon Wilson, P.C. in Springfield, said the Express Internet Center opened in October of 2010, after it was fully licensed and aired at public hearings by authorities in the city of Chicopee including the License Commission. Coyle said the company's position is that it is a validly-licensed business operating in the state.

"Mr. Ardolino always considers himself to be an upstanding business owner," Coyle said. "From the time he started the business, he did everything in accord with the rules and regulations established at the time the business started."

File photo | The Republican
07.17.2007 | SPRINGFIELD — Anthony M. Ardolino enters the federal courthouse.

Ardolino declined comment.

The Express center, located in a strip mall with a Family Dollar store and other businesses, was closed voluntarily on Thursday, according to Coyle.

The center, which offers free food and drinks and 48 partitioned computers, used to operate from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, according to the civil suit.

Ardolino wants to comply with all rules and regulations, Coyle said. The business will work with the attorney general to determine the impetus behind the regulations and later determine whether or not the business will continue at that location, Coyle said.

A separate lawyer at Bacon Wilson is representing different businesses in a pending lawsuit in Hampden Superior Court that challenges the validity of the attorney general's regulations, Coyle said.

After the suit was filed on Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court, the defendants, including the owner and parent corporation, called 170 Elm St. LLC, agreed on Thursday to a temporary court order requiring them to preserve certain documents and freezing their assets, except if the assets are used in the ordinary course of business, Coakley's office said on Friday. A hearing in Suffolk Superior is set for May 15.

“We allege that this café is an unlawful establishment, profiting from unregulated and illegal gambling games with no posted odds, minimum odds, or guarantee of pay outs for patrons. Today’s action is just the latest step toward holding accountable businesses that mislead customers and operate in violation of the law," Coakley said.

The lawsuit seeks to shut down the café and to recover penalties, fees, and unlawful profits from the defendants, the attorney general said.

A bill to ban Internet cafes is pending on Beacon Hill.

The attorney general is using a combination of civil and criminal enforcement tools to investigate allegedly illegal Internet cafes. A special statewide grand jury issued criminal indictments last year against the closed Cafeno's Internet Cafe in Chicopee and "Leo's Place" in Fall River and Fairhaven. The businesses and their owners currently are fighting charges of organizing or promoting gambling services and operating an illegal lottery.

Coakley's crackdown on the cafes comes as a state agency is moving to license casino resorts and a slot facility that were legalized under the state's expanded gambling law in November.

Coakley's lawsuit contains an affidavit from a civil investigator for her office who went undercover and visited the Express Internet Center last month to use the computer slots.

At the center, people are issued a plastic card and can use it to buy time on the Internet and also get points for the games. People can click on an icon for the games and wager points on any one of about 25 different casino-style slot machines that appear on the screen, the affidavit said.

If players won, they could redeem points for cash, the affidavit said.

After the investigator spent $60 and accumulated $7 of win points, a cashier told her "Better luck next time."

Florida needs to shut down predatory gambling houses

Florida needs to shut down predatory gambling houses
April 3, 2012By Scott Plakon Guest Columnist

You may assume an "Internet cafe", like the ones that are popping up in strip centers throughout Florida, are gathering places to access the Internet, enjoy a cup of coffee, or conduct a business meeting. But walk inside and you will find something quite different. These Internet cafes actually house dozens — or hundreds — of computer terminals. People using these terminals aren't surfing the Web. They aren't using Skype. They aren't sending e-mail.

Instead, they are playing slot-machine style games in the hopes of hitting the jackpot. But the operators say that it's not gambling, but merely sweepstakes contests. They compare their operations to the Monopoly sweepstakes that McDonald's runs once each year. They are cleverly exploiting loopholes in Florida's sweepstakes laws to open gambling houses without the authorization of state or local authorities and without voter approval.

But their deception does not stop there. Many of these gambling cafes are operated by groups branded as charities that supports veterans. But a close examination of tax records for "Allied Veterans of the World and Affiliates" turns up very little in the way of charitable giving compared with its gambling cafe revenue. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' "Gift Giver's Guide" estimates the group donated only 1 percent of the money it spent in 2009, with 99 percent being spent on "Administrative Expenses."

The good news is that prosecutors and policymakers in some parts of Florida have had success shutting these operations down. In Central Florida, prosecutors have shut them down in Orange and Osceola Counties, successfully arguing that they are unlawful gambling establishments. A recent federal court ruling has also cleared the way for Seminole County to enforce a ban that local commissioners adopted in the wake of violent crimes at these facilities. This ruling will likely embolden local governments throughout Florida to adopt similar measures. But that is no substitute for having the Florida Legislature eliminate the loopholes that are being exploited. With support from Gov. Rick Scott and the entire Florida Cabinet, my bill to shut down these harmful operations was approved by the House this year, but unfortunately died in the Senate.

No matter what your position is on gambling in Florida, there are important reasons why these gambling cafes have no place in Florida. Those who profit from these shady businesses argue that the state should regulate them — not shut them down. They want this because regulating them would give them the legal legitimacy that they lack today. Regulating these storefront casinos would reward those who have chosen to break or skirt our laws. It would grant amnesty to current operations, and potentially invite more. And having the state legitimize these operations would likely violate the compact that the state has with the Seminole Tribe — allowing the Tribe to stop paying the state the hundreds of millions of dollars it has agreed to as the exclusive operator of certain forms of gambling.

But the most important reason these gambling cafes need to be shut down is gambling brings costs to society and taxpayers. According to a recent exposé in BusinessWeek, most Internet gambling cafe patrons are elderly and poor. Many of the locations even dispense welfare cash. Crime and addiction are the inevitable consequences of predatory gambling. Because of the convenient access to highly addictive gambling they provide, these establishments make millions preying on those who can least afford it. That means more people addicted to gambling, more dependency on taxpayer funded support programs, and more crime committed to support gambling addictions.

N.C. gambling arrives by accident

N.C. gambling arrives by accident
The Virginian-Pilot

Those quaint produce stands lining the drive through Currituck County to the beach may soon be outnumbered by Internet sweepstakes parlors - if they aren't already.

Although the North Carolina legislature banned the video games in an amendment to an existing law against gambling two years ago, they're alive and thriving on N.C. 168 in Moyock and beyond.

Shortly after the ban was approved, sweepstakes operators and software providers challenged it. This month, a divided state Court of Appeals sided with the industry, contending the law is too broadly drawn.

Since then, more parlors have opened in Currituck, joining others that have been in operation during the court challenge.

The parlors work like this: Players purchase Internet or phone time to click through computer screens to see if they've won a cash prize. The game operators contend it's not gambling because the results are determined before the players sit down at the screen.

As The Pilot's Jeff Hampton recently reported, Currituck officials have issued citations to sweepstakes parlors for zoning violations. Those citations are also being challenged, and sweepstakes operators have asked the County Commission to allow the games.

Two years ago, Elizabeth City approved a similar change that imposes taxes on each sweepstakes machine. Three parlors have been operating there, generating revenues of approximately $62,000 a year, according to officials.

But both localities have more to lose than gain from these establishments.

And North Carolina has much to lose if it can't find a way to regulate an industry that seems to operate in the small space created by loopholes and technicalities. In Portsmouth, for example, gambling threatened to overrun the city before officials stepped in.

Gambling is an industry that shouldn't happen by accident or because laws are insufficiently precise.

Elizabeth City is striving to revitalize its historic downtown, and sweepstakes parlors - even on the outskirts of downtown - don't project an inviting image to visitors or prospective businesses. The same is true for Currituck, which relies heavily on its family-friendly tourism image.

Proponents of sweepstakes parlors contend they're good for the economy, but there's substantial evidence that gambling, even in its simplest forms, isn't an innocuous pastime. It diverts money that would be spent on real goods and services, and money disproportionately comes from people who can least afford to part with it.

Virginia successfully shut down these games last year. If North Carolina's high court doesn't uphold the ban, lawmakers in Raleigh need to try again. The state has a history of corruption related to video gambling, and it shouldn't run the risk of more.

The North Carolina Sheriffs Association and the Association of Chiefs of Police oppose the games. Those warnings sound like winning advice for local and state officials.

“Stacked Deck”

Class warns of dangers of gambling
by Keith Strange
Staff Writer Mount Airy News


A first-of-its-kind class on gambling addictions is hitting the jackpot among students taking the course at Surry Central High School, school resource officer and co-instructor Randy Simpson said Wednesday.

The course, called “Stacked Deck,” is comprised of six classes that include pre-tests, presentations, interaction with students and a post-test used to gauge the effectiveness of the class. It is designed to cover the history of gambling and the pitfalls that can result.

“The entire six-course class took two weeks to work with the students’ schedule,” said Simpson, who helped teach the class with instructor Greg High.

After completing the class, the students were asked to design posters for placement around the school that warn others of the dangers of compulsive gambling.

The first class was attended by 22 students, Simpson said.

“We were the pilot school and this is the first class,” he noted, adding that officials are considering expanding the class to other schools in the region. “During the course of the class, we had representatives from other schools who may be interested in teaching it in their curriculum.”

The take-away from the class, Simpson said, was students coming away with a clearer view of problem gambling. He said he was impressed with the students’ maturity and point of view.

“They asked a lot of good questions and were very interested in what was being taught,” he said. “I’m not a teacher, I was the guy standing there in a police uniform, but I noticed that they were very attentive during the presentations and they asked good, valid questions. Some of the stuff we covered during this class included the kinds of things to look for if you suspect a family member has a gambling addiction.”

To that end, Simpson said he left some materials laying on the table “for students to take anonymously if they wanted to.”

“I noticed that quite a few of them were taken,” he said.

The impetus for the course was a noticeable rise in problem gambling across the state, Simpson said.

“There are a lot of people spending their paychecks in the Internet cafes or buying lottery tickets,” he said. “That’s money that could and should be used for other things like a house payment and groceries. These kinds of problems have been reported throughout the state, and we saw this class as a way to address the problem.”

Simpson said he hopes the class can open a dialog in the community to raise awareness about problem gambling.

“People have addictions. They’re going to gamble,” he said. “But this is a way to make us more wise to the problem and more capable of diagnosing the signs and symptoms.”

Simpson said the program was funded through state grant money, and called the experience “very rewarding.”

“The kids taking the class were going home and telling their mothers and fathers about it, and we’ve gotten some positive feedback from the parents as well,” he said.

Asked how they liked the class, the students were unequivocal.

“We loved it,” they said. “It was really interesting.”

As for the “coolest” thing they learned, just ask 15-year-old Kyle Scritchfield.

“You have a better chance of dying going to buy a lottery ticket then you do of winning the lottery,” he said.

No Casinos doubles down against Internet cafes

Brent Batten: No Casinos doubles down against Internet cafes
By BRENT BATTEN

No Casinos really takes this no casinos business to heart.

After successfully lobbying for the defeat of a bill that would have brought giant resort casinos to Florida, the advocacy group No Casinos has set its sights much lower, now advocating for the prohibition of storefront slot machine palaces — sometimes called Internet cafes — that dot the urban landscape like so many mini marts.

"Even supporters of the destination casino legislation decried that fact that Internet cafés have popped up throughout Florida," said No Casinos President John Sowinski. "It is time to pass legislation to shut down these gambling houses that operate in a legal gray area and because they have never been sanctioned by the Legislature or the voters."

House Bill 3 would ban operations that get around laws against gambling by offering gift cards and coupons instead of cash payouts. It has a companion bill in the Senate that would regulate, rather than outright ban, the establishments. Sowinski says that's unfortunate.

"Regulating Internet cafés instead of shutting them down is bad public policy," he said. It would legitimize them and threaten the state's gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe, which pays the state about $200 million each year for the exclusive right to certain forms of gambling, he argues.

The storefront slot halls can be found around Collier County with names like Winners and Vegas Casinos South. Inside retirees while away the hours pressing buttons and watching dazzling light displays for as little as eights cents per spin.

Some counties have tried to ban them through local ordinances, but those efforts have been met by lawsuits from the industry. Hillsborough County passed an ordinance on Dec. 7 and within two weeks legal action was filed asking a judge to block enforcement of the ban.

Locally, an ordinance has not been considered by county lawmakers. Perhaps that's because the operations haven't been viewed as a problem.

"It's not been an issue," said County Attorney Jeff Klatzkow. "I know it has been in other counties but we haven't heard anything."

Klatzkow said to his knowledge, the only time the topic has come up was at a planning meeting about a year ago when a strip mall that housed one of the slot palaces was being discussed.

"The folks there (in the neighborhood) loved it," he said.

Considering the fact that Southwest Florida is home to a greyhound track that offers poker and a Seminole casino in Immoklaee, slot machines are part of the picture.

"We're a gambling community anyway. It's kind of a culture down here," Klatzkow said.

House Bill 3 was approved by the House Economic Affairs Committee Thursday but until the Senate settles on its approach, the House bill will probably have to wait for a floor vote.

Keeping with the No Casinos mantra, Sowinski urged senators to take the same approach as the House when it comes to storefront casinos.

"What they are offering looks, feels, and acts like slot machines — the most addictive form of gambling. They are not regulated like gambling and are not taxed like gambling. We think that as long as there are gray areas there are people who will exploit them, so the issue should be tackled head on," Sowinski said.