Internet sweepstakes cafés elude anti-gambling laws by having customers buy account cards that are used to play simulated gambling games on computers.
The outcome is predetermined, but to the player, who doesn’t know whether the card will generate a return, it is like being at a slot machine.
The operators decide how much they will allow the “gamblers” to win. Customers win or lose points at a predetermined rate. And the owners can adjust the odds whenever they want.
It is a predatory practice aimed largely at the elderly and the poor. Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office rightly want to put a stop to it. Sheriff David Gee has warned owners they appear to be “conducting gambling activities,” and his office intends to investigate and enforce the law. Sheriffs in Pinellas and Pasco have shut down similar cafes and arrested owners.
Gambling is illegal in Hillsborough except in a few specified areas such as the Seminole Indian property.
Other than being required to register with the state Department of Agriculture, there is no oversight of the operations and no accounting of the cash that flows through them. Most are located in strip malls.
These gambling facilities are growing fast. Three years ago, there were no sweepstakes cafés in Hillsborough. Now, there are more than 25.
Murman is pushing an ordinance that would outlaw the “gambling devices” found in the cafés.
The well-funded operators will vigorously fight it, but Hillsborough County commissioners should consider the opinion of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who found the electronic games constituted “illegal slot machines or devices.”
And commissioners also can find guidance from U.S. District Court Judge John Antoon, who in a detailed ruling upheld Seminole County’s similar measure.
He found the Seminole ordinance specifically described the cafés’ “simulated gambling machines” that made payoffs to those playing the games. He pointed out that “none of the video games at issue is banned on its own — only the play of such a game in conjunction with the possibility of a payoff is banned.”
He refused operators’ request to issue a preliminary injunction against the Seminole ordinance.
Hillsborough commissioners should not allow little casinos to open up around the county. They should put an immediate halt to the spread of these strip-mall gambling dens.