Online Casinos, Sports Betting, Gambling Reviews

County and federal law enforcement officials closed 13 video poker rooms Wednesday in a countywide sting that resulted in 11 arrests and more than $13,800 confiscated.

While the chances are high that these poker rooms will soon relocate, for now the closings mean fewer gambling places, said Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph.

"The Sheriff's Department gets calls every day from men and women complaining, `My husband has lost a whole week's rent,' or, `My wife has put all of this money into the machines,' " Pendergraph said. Officials from the Mecklenburg County ABC, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, the FBI and the IRS partnered in the operation.

Officials estimate that an average machine is fed $1,100 a day. Roughly speaking, the 13 raided locations together probably saw $15 to $25 million annually, Pendergraph said.

Store operators, who pay no tax on their profits, have been known to take cash home in grocery bags, said Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Julia Rush. N.C. state law says video poker is legal so long as payouts do not exceed $10 in merchandise or store credits.

Stores can have only three registered machines, Rush said. Many of the confiscated machines contained $20 and $50 bills, which points to illegal activity, Pendergraph said.

S.C. legislators banned video poker beginning July 1, 2000. Operators appealed, but the state Supreme Court upheld the ban on possession of the machines in November 2000.

In Wednesday's sting, officials confiscated a total of 53 video poker machines from the following locations, many within blocks of each other: 337 and 341 Verbena St.; 5101-D and 5101-C Nations Ford Road; 6034, 6501-O and 6501-P Old Pineville Road; 4208-L South Blvd.; 201 Exmore St.; and 224-603 and 222-506 Westinghouse Blvd., according to a news release.

Charges ranged from misdemeanors for operating unregistered machines to having more than three machines, which is a felony.

Wednesday night, officials could not give a complete list of the 11 people arrested and were looking to serve warrants.

The investigation, which culminated in Wednesday's sting, began eight months ago, officials said. Isolated machine confiscations have happened as recently as last summer, Pendergraph said. Wednesday was the first time a full operation had taken place.

Free Casino, Internet Casino, Las Vegas Casino, Best Online Casino, Casino Gambling

- home - previous - next - gr1 gr2 gr3 gr4 gr5 gr6 gr7 gr8 gr9 gr10 gr11 gr12 gr13 gr14 gr15 gr16 gr17 gr18 gr19 gr20 gr21 gr22 gr23 gr24 gr25 gr26 gr27 gr28 gr29 gr30 gr31 gr32 gr33 gr34 gr35 gr36 gr37 gr38 gr39 gr40 gr41 gr42 gr43 gr44 g45 gr46 gr47 gr48 gr49 gr50 gr51 gr52 gr53 gr54 gr55 gr56 gr57 gr58 gr59 gr60 gr61 gr62 gr63 gr64 gr65 gr66 gr67 gr68 gr69 gr70 gr71 gr72 gr73 gr74 gr75 gr76 gr77 gr78 gr79 gr80 Gambling1 Gambling2 Gambling3 Gambling4 Gambling5 Gambling6 Gambling7 Gambling8 Gambling9 Gambling10 Gambling11 Gambling12 Gambling13 Gambling14 Gambling15 Gambling16 Gambling17 Gambling18 Gambling19 Gambling 20 Gambling21 Gambling22 Gambling23 Gambling24 Gambling 25

Online Casinos 1 Online Casinos 2 Online Casinos 3 Online Casinos 4 Online Casinos 5 Online Casinos 6 Online Casinos 7 Online Casinos 8 Online Casinos 9 Online Casinos 10 Online Casinos 11 Online Casinos 12 Online Casinos 13 Online Casinos 14 Online Casinos 15 Online Casinos 16 Online Casinso 17 Online Casinos 18 Online Casinos 19 Online Casinos 20 Online Casinos 21 Online Casinos 22 Online Casinos 23 Online Casinos 24 Online Casinos 25 Online Casinos 26 Online Casinos 27 Online Casinos 28 Online Casinos 29 Online Casinos 30 Online Casinos 31 Online Casinos 32 Online Casinos 33 Online Casinos 34 Online Casinos 35 Online Casinos 36 Online Casinos 37 Online Casinos 38 Online Casinos 39 Online Casinos 30 Online Casinos 31 Online Casinos 32 Online Casinos 33 Online Casinos 34 Online Casinos 35 Online Casinos 36 Online Casinos 37 Online Casinos 38 Online Casinos 39 Online Casinos 40 Online Casinos 41 Online Casinos 42 Online Casinos 43 Online Casinos 44 Online Casinos 45 Online Casinos 36 Online Casinos 47 Online Casinos 48 Online Casinos 49 Online Casinos 50 Online Casinos 51 Online Casinos 52 Online Casinos 53 Online Casinos 54 Online Casinos 55 Online Casinos 56 Online Casinos 57 Online Casinos 58 Online Casinos 59 Online Casinos 69 Online Casinos 70 Online Casinos 71 Online Casinos 72 Online Casinos 73 Online Casinos 74 Online Casino 75 Online Casinos 76 Online Casinos 77 Online Casinos 78 Online Casinos 79 Online Casinos 80 Online Casinos 81 Online Casinos 82 Online Casinos 83 Online Casinos 84 Online Casinos 85 Online Casinos 86 Online Casinos 87 Online Casinos 88 Online Casinos 89 Online Casinos 90 Online Casinos 91 Online Casinos 92 Online Casinos 93 Online Casinos 94 Online Casinos 95 Online Casinos 96 Online Casinos 97 Online Casinos 98 Online Casinos 99 Online Casinos 100