Augusta steels for ban fallout

Web posted June 25, 2000

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By Sylvia Cooper
Staff Writer

Augusta officials are gearing up for an influx of video poker parlors into the city from South Carolina.

The Augusta Commission rushed through an amendment to the city's arcade ordinance Tuesday aimed at preventing strips of such establishments by imposing distance and other licensing requirements for arcades with 10 or more machines.

The amendments are designed to keep Augusta from becoming the next Edgefield, S.C., according to City Attorney Jim Wall.

Dozens of poker establishments line Martintown Road where Edgefield and Aiken counties join. Because North Augusta fought to keep poker parlors out, most are on Martintown Road on the Edgefield County line.

Richmond County Sheriff Charlie Webster expects trouble in the Garden City.

``We are prepared for it,'' he said. ``We expect some of the business to be coming here, and we're going to be on the lookout for it, and we're going to do our level best to stop it before it gets started.''

It only makes sense that South Carolina operators will set up shop in Augusta when the industry becomes illegal there July 1, the sheriff said.

``Maybe it won't come, but if they can't do it over there, they're going to try to do something,'' he said. ``Some of those people have been making good money. They're going to look for a place to go, and we're mighty close.''

Four applicants for arcade licenses - two of them owners of video poker parlors in South Carolina - applied before Augusta commissioners amended the city's arcade ordinance Tuesday. Commissioners must consider their applications under the ordinance that was in effect at the time they applied, Mr. Wall said.

The city usually receives three to four arcade license applications a year, officials said.

Applications scheduled to be considered Wednesday are:

Barry L. Stewart, Regency Cafe, 2417 Regency Blvd., Unit C-1.

Mr. Stewart, who listed his home address as 845 River Bluff Road, North Augusta, owns several video poker parlors in Edgefield and Aiken counties, he said. He said he and his lawyers are trying to figure out how the ordinance will affect his business.

``We do know what state law is,'' Mr. Stewart said. ``We fully understand what state law is, and a lot of times in different parts of the state, state law has always superseded individual county laws. So we really don't know if Georgia is a legal redemption state where you can legally run games on redemption, so we really don't know what to think about all this.''

Georgia law states an arcade cannot receive more than 50 percent of its income from amusement machines, said Mr. Wall.

The law allows arcades to issue gift certificates that may be redeemed by the player, but not for cash, lottery tickets, alcohol or tobacco.

When video poker first began in South Carolina, cash payments were illegal, but a state senator slipped a provision into the state budget that legalized them.

A provision in state law also allows amusement machines as long as some skill is involved in the game, and that's the issue over which Mr. Wall expects legal battles, he said.

Wayne L. Glover, president, Millennium Games, 1511 North Leg. Mr. Glover, who listed his home address as 3116 Beatty Road, Columbia, said he was in the process of opening a video poker parlor in South Carolina but never did.

``It was because you had to May 31st of 1999 to get open, and I couldn't come to a conclusion in getting somebody to put games in it, so I just scrapped the idea and never opened up,'' Mr. Glover said.

Millennium Games will be next door to Pot of Gold games on North Leg.

J.B. Gordon, Diamond Redemption Center, 1719 Gordon Highway. Mr. Gordon, an Augusta native, lives at 2643 Royal St. He said he has ``no connection with South Carolina at all.

``My application just happens to be in with South Carolina applicants,'' he said. ``I'm just trying to make a slow penny, not a hard nickel. I'm not trying to circumvent the law. I intend to follow the law to the letter. You can make a good living following the law, and that's all I want to do.''

This license application will come before commissioners in July:

James Scott Brantley, Georgialina Billiards & Spa Inc., 3187 Washington Road. Mr. Brantley, who lives in North Augusta, did not return phone calls seeking his input for this story.

The South Carolina Department of Revenue video gaming machine indicates that Brantley Amusement Co. reported 24 locations and 87 machines Dec. 31.

Mike Seigler, Georgia Bureau of Investigation assistant special agent in charge of the Thomson office, said video poker is not new in Richmond County.

``I made a raid down in Richmond County several years ago from poker machines out of South Carolina,'' he said. ``And we just recently did one in Lincoln County, Lincolnton, up here.

``And of course they've been here. And most of the machines come from the Athens area or either South Carolina to start with. So it's not new. There may be a recent influx of more coming in, but they've been here for awhile. The majority of them have been legal, but there are some illegal payoffs going on.''

Columbia County officials said they don't foresee any major problems with video poker.

Planning Director Kendal Jones said her department has received one inquiry about gaming machines.

Columbia County permits indoor amusement and entertainment facilities only in heavier commercial zoning districts, Mrs. Jones said. Establishments that have machines that require federal gambling stamps cannot sell or serve alcohol, which further protects the county, she said.

Columbia County Sheriff's Office Capt. Steve Morris said his department currently doesn't foresee major problems resulting from the outlawing of video poker in South Carolina.

``I don't know that there's ever been a big push before or even now after this action to bring that industry into Georgia, much less Columbia County,'' he said.

Staff Writers Margaret O'Shea, Peggy Ussery and Preston Sparks contributed to this article.

Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylviaco@augustachronicle.com.