dave
06-02-2003, 07:24 AM
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<p>It turns out gambling is illegal in Marengo County. Early Friday morning on May 30th, police from Demopolis and Linden combined to shut down four of the major rat hole gambling joints servicing Marengo. Included in the raid were the “Silver Dollar” and “Lucky Strike” of Demopolis, and the “Lucky Spin” and “Big Bee” in Linden. The sting involved a woman who was wired by the police, then supplied with cash to gamble with till she won and received her cash payout. If I had known they wanted someone to do this, I’d volunteered a long time ago. In all, the police seized $30,000 in cash and 150 slot machines. The money will be turned over to the State of Alabama, and the slots will most likely be destroyed, or possibly sold out of state.</p>
<p>According to state law, gambling casinos are illegal in Alabama. Under the “Chuck E. Cheese” law, an arcade may have games of skill pay out a prize of no more than $5.00 in value. Games of chance are not legal for any prizes. Games such as “Ski Ball” are considered more skill than luck, so winning tickets that turn into prizes is legal. Placing money into a machine and hoping money falls out is considered a game of chance and is such illegal. This would also apply to games like “Bingo”. The arcades in Marengo County have been illegal since they opened, and now they have been finally shut down for good.</p>
<p>There were no arrests made in the Friday raid. Misdemeanor citations were handed out to Danny Blair, Clara Overstreet and Susan Hawkins. Those for these arcades mostly say it’s “something to do”. Goodloe Sutton once stated let the “fools” money stay in town. You know, if crack dealers paid taxes, it wouldn’t make it any more OK.
<img src="http://www.demopolislive.com/upload/bustedcasino.jpg" width="500" height="215">
</div>
<p>It turns out gambling is illegal in Marengo County. Early Friday morning on May 30th, police from Demopolis and Linden combined to shut down four of the major rat hole gambling joints servicing Marengo. Included in the raid were the “Silver Dollar” and “Lucky Strike” of Demopolis, and the “Lucky Spin” and “Big Bee” in Linden. The sting involved a woman who was wired by the police, then supplied with cash to gamble with till she won and received her cash payout. If I had known they wanted someone to do this, I’d volunteered a long time ago. In all, the police seized $30,000 in cash and 150 slot machines. The money will be turned over to the State of Alabama, and the slots will most likely be destroyed, or possibly sold out of state.</p>
<p>According to state law, gambling casinos are illegal in Alabama. Under the “Chuck E. Cheese” law, an arcade may have games of skill pay out a prize of no more than $5.00 in value. Games of chance are not legal for any prizes. Games such as “Ski Ball” are considered more skill than luck, so winning tickets that turn into prizes is legal. Placing money into a machine and hoping money falls out is considered a game of chance and is such illegal. This would also apply to games like “Bingo”. The arcades in Marengo County have been illegal since they opened, and now they have been finally shut down for good.</p>
<p>There were no arrests made in the Friday raid. Misdemeanor citations were handed out to Danny Blair, Clara Overstreet and Susan Hawkins. Those for these arcades mostly say it’s “something to do”. Goodloe Sutton once stated let the “fools” money stay in town. You know, if crack dealers paid taxes, it wouldn’t make it any more OK.