Florida officials seek tougher penalties for illegal arcades

Reporter: Taylor Wirtz
Published: Updated:

Illegal gambling arcades in Southwest Florida have become a significant issue.

Experts say that illegal gaming places are like cockroaches: if you squash one of them, a bunch more pop up in their place.

Law enforcement and Florida gaming officials have approached state lawmakers to request tougher penalties for illegal gambling activities.

Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, explained that illegal gambling arcades are easy to establish and relocate and are highly profitable.

Owners often anticipate their machines being seized but can quickly set up operations elsewhere.



Legal arcades offering games of skill are permitted, but Florida law bans games of luck.

Jarvis questioned how much luck a machine can have before it becomes an illegal slot machine and how much skill is required for a game to be legal.

The Florida Gaming Control Commission has advocated for stricter laws to combat these illegal arcades. However, Jarvis expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of this approach.

“We always say that these gambling arcades are very popular with the elderly, with people who are retired, with people who are unemployed, with people who have time on their hands,” said Jarvis, “so you do need to have in every community better resources for people who are elderly, people who are lonely, people who are retired, people who have time on their hands.”

Jarvis proposed that legalizing these arcades and ensuring they operate honest games might be a more effective solution than implementing stricter laws.

WINK News also reached out to the Florida Gaming Control Commission, which has called for crackdowns on these arcades.

They weren’t available to speak but did give a list of authorized gaming locations, here.

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