Players often hopscotch around seeking incentives, like a $20 bonus for gambling $20, free sodas or meals, often a buffet of pizza. Another day, a gambler, having overdosed, was given Narcan. “I have to kick people out for stuff all the time.” A thief had recently damaged the ceiling to reach the safe. “Gambling, but also drugs,” said Heather, who was tapping an iPad to play a slot machine online while she worked. She also noted the clientele tended to deal with issues of addiction. Thirty minutes later, at another arcade a few miles away, an attendant had already been warned about the scammers. The men were using an electronic device the size of a lighter, Camuti explained, to force it to pay out. The screen on a machine blinked and glitched. After they left, the employee called them a racist slur. Three young men slowly rose and headed for the door. “You three get the f-k out now, or we’re going to have a problem!” Then a man burst from a back office and yelled at a group of gamblers. In this way, they have spread casino gambling far beyond the borders of what Florida’s politicians or voters have approved, attracting often vulnerable customers who find no recourse when mistreated. Much like illicit massage parlors, plainly rule-breaking yet ubiquitous, game rooms have proven difficult to stamp out. Some estimate 1,000 locations in Florida, with no official tally.įor years, neighborhood casinos have gone largely ignored by local law enforcement, despite frequent police visits, mostly related to the conduct of customers. Legal names of the businesses differ from signage, and names on paperwork often turn up people who say they aren’t the real owner.Īt least 70 game rooms were operating in Tampa Bay as of early May, a review of tax and other records shows. Some bear only opaque windows and a buzzer, found by word of mouth. The “game rooms,” as they’re known in the industry, don’t advertise and often don’t appear on Google Maps. The Tampa Bay Times visited nearly 30 gambling arcades to watch this scene play out.

Yet if you are in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco or Manatee County, illegal slots are never far away. With few exceptions, like the Seminole Hard Rock casino on a 9-acre reservation outside Tampa, slot machines are illegal in Tampa Bay - and the rest of the state. The manager allowed a photo on the condition that the Tampa Bay Times not disclose the game room's exact location.

A gambler plays a slot machine at an arcade in the Kenneth City area of Pinellas County.

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