{"id":19448,"date":"2014-03-14T17:30:59","date_gmt":"2014-03-14T17:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=19448"},"modified":"2014-03-13T02:15:22","modified_gmt":"2014-03-13T02:15:22","slug":"florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Tries to Unban Arcades, Discovers New Gambling Law Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Florida
Popular kids’ arcades like this Chuck E. Cheese have gotten caught in Florida’s ambiguous gambling regulations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re not sure whether Florida\u2019s gambling laws need a complete overhaul, then take a look at how they affect Chuck E. Cheese. That\u2019s right: the popular pizza and arcade venue was an unintended victim last year when legislators outlawed Internet sweepstakes cafes throughout the state, accidentally banning some regular arcades in the process. Now the state is looking to rectify that mistake, but is finding that the new regulations<\/a> could cause yet more loopholes in Florida\u2019s patchwork network of confusing gambling regulations.<\/p>\n

Keeping Family Arcades Safe<\/h2>\n

A bill that would ensure that coinless arcades like Dave & Busters or Chuck E. Cheese are excluded from the legal net was supported unanimously by the Senate Gaming Committee last week, paving the way for the law to be voted on by the full legislature. The bill – PCB 668<\/a> – would ensure that family amusement centers would be excluded from the regulations that outlawed the \u201cInternet cafes\u201d that were little more than fronts for sweepstakes games.<\/p>\n

Local police were asked not to enforce the law against the arcades, and now the new bill – introduced by State Senator Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland) –\u00a0looks like it could remedy the problem. But some fear that the new regulations will simply cause more dilemmas for Florida\u2019s gambling regulators.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gaming law expert Marc Dunbar testified that opening any loopholes for amusement centers will encourage gambling operators to try to find a way to exploit those loopholes in order to legally operate some form of gaming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe grey market industry is very vibrant in Florida because we do not have a regulator on top of our gaming code,\u201d Dunbar said.<\/p>\n

The new bill would revise the definitions used to declare machines as \u201camusements games.\u201d These games \u2013 which would be allowed in arcades, bowling alleys, hotels, restaurants, and truck stops \u2013 can now use tokens, cards or other devices to power them along with coins. They may now offer prizes of up to $5.25 per game (up from $0.75 under the old law), and can give out prizes valued at as much as $50 to players.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur target was not family arcades,\u201d said Senator Stargel, while also pointing out that only true family establishments would qualify under the new law. \u201cThese amusement centers need to continue to provide entertainment for children and adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clawing the Law<\/h2>\n

Dunbar, who has been used several times as an expert on gaming matters by Florida legislators, had other concerns about the bill as well. For instance, he pointed out that the new legislation would allow venues to operate \u201cclaw machines\u201d \u2013 the games where players operate a mini-crane and try to pick up prizes. Dunbar said that the federal government classifies these machines as gambling devices, which could violate the state compact with the Seminole Tribe, worth billions to the state over the life of the compact.<\/p>\n

Some senators also asked how the bill would affect so-called senior arcades.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about those kids that are 80, 85, and 90?\u201d asked Senator Maria Sachs. \u201cSo this would bring back the activation of some of the arcades that were stand-alone or [located in] strip shopping malls we had in my district?\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Stargel, such venues could reopen, provided they followed the rules set forth in the bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re not sure whether Florida\u2019s gambling laws need a complete overhaul, then take a look at how they affect Chuck E. Cheese. That\u2019s right: the popular pizza and arcade venue was an unintended victim last year when legislators outlawed Internet sweepstakes cafes throughout the state, accidentally banning some regular arcades in the process. Now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":19458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida Tries to Unban Arcades, Discovers New Gambling Law Problems<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mired for years now in complex and convoluted gaming laws that venues kept finding ways to circumvent, Florida tries once more to clarify what's legal.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Florida Tries to Unban Arcades, Discovers New Gambling Law Problems\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mired for years now in complex and convoluted gaming laws that venues kept finding ways to circumvent, Florida tries once more to clarify what's legal.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-14T17:30:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-03-13T02:15:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/chuck.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"901\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems\/\",\"name\":\"Florida Tries to Unban Arcades, Discovers New Gambling Law Problems\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/chuck.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-14T17:30:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-13T02:15:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Mired for years now in complex and convoluted gaming laws that venues kept finding ways to circumvent, Florida tries once more to clarify what's legal.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-tries-unban-arcades-discovers-new-gambling-law-problems\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/chuck.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/chuck.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":901,\"caption\":\"Popular kids' arcades like this Chuck E. 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