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Bingo beware, slot machines find favor

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published June 5, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - The popular fundraising mainstay of bingo has long allowed Cada Haddon Chapter 67 of the Disabled American Veterans to assist local veterans and provide scholarships to high school students.

But bingo isn't as big as it used to be, and now the chapter's leadership is looking for the fundraising ideas of tomorrow.

The rise in the popularity of "video-activated amusements for prizes" has the organization examining the possibility of offering a type of electronic slot machine gaming.

On June 11, the DAV is seeking approval from the county's Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone its facility on Cortez Boulevard for commercial use.

County zoning staffer told local DAV officials that the commercial zoning is needed if they want to invite the public in to play.

That could be the first step for the organization to begin offering the new amusement games, which are already offered as a pilot program at the DAV chapter in Bradenton.

But the zoning questions might be easier for the service organization to sort out than the legal questions.

Versions of the same kinds of electronic slot machine games the DAV is considering have been found to run afoul of Florida statutes, according to an official at the State Attorney's Office for the 5th Judicial Circuit, which includes Hernando County.

In late 2005, the State Attorney's Office contacted the operators of 13 game rooms in Hernando and Citrus counties. Two were raided, and the rest shut down voluntarily.

Recently, several of the local commercial gaming rooms have reopened. One reopened arguing that it had a new kind of game that met legal muster, but state prosecutors didn't agree.

On May 25, John Cucciniello of Club Carnivale reopened, and business already is booming. He said he believes that his business on Forest Oaks Boulevard in Spring Hill will be fine this time.

He too has changed machine types and said that his new electronic slots, offered through Double D Gaming, are strictly games of skill because the outcome is totally dependent on the player's choice of when to stop the spinning reels.

In closing down games in the past, state attorney's officials argued that the games offered in the video gaming salons were games of chance, which are illegal.

Local DAV chapter commander Dominic Servello said last week that he hopes the legal rulings that have been reached elsewhere in Florida allowing such games will eventually apply throughout the state.

He felt confident that his state organization, which has earned a long-standing reputation for public service, would not get involved in something illegal.

Servello also argued that the DAV operating a gaming room would be different from a private business earning a profit from the activity. The DAV is a service organization that helps the community in a variety of ways.

But Mark Simpson, the Ocala-based assistant state attorney who has been involved in many of the gaming cases, said it doesn't matter what a group does with the money.

"A crack house is a crack house" even if it gives its proceeds to charity, he said.

The legal questions about the difference between games of chance and games of skill are still being worked out in jurisdictions across the state. Some judicial circuits are just turning their back on enforcement, but Simpson said his circuit has taken the strong stand.

While he has heard all the arguments for what machines are more reliant on chance than skill and has overseen the shutting down of thousands of machines, "I ain't seen a legal one yet, " he said.

Simpson said that the games in some of the rooms shut down could bring in $7, 000 to $12, 000 a day, which is why they are popular with businesses.

"It's very lucrative, " he said. "The problem is that it's illegal."

Servello remained optimistic.

"All that we can hope for is that this happens to go further, and that would be great, " he said. "And if it doesn't, then I hope that our bingo continues to do well so that we can continue to raise money to help our community."

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434.

[Last modified June 5, 2007, 00:30:23]