Horace Bradley (left) and Harold Hitchcock, both with the Richmond County Sheriff's Department SWAT team, remove one of 15 machines found at Millennium Solutions. JENNIFER BRUNO/STAFF

Video poker crackdown persists

Web posted August 22, 2000

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By Jason B. Smith and Sylvia Cooper
Staff Writers

Augusta officials continued on Monday their efforts to combat video poker, raiding a south Augusta business and confiscating a number of gaming machines. But the fight could move to a larger battlefield early next year.

Richmond County Sheriff's Department officers raided Millennium Solutions at Old Savannah and Tobacco roads at 7:30 a.m. Monday and confiscated nine gaming machines and cash, the department's vice investigators said.

The business, which purported to be a computer business, was a front for a video-poker parlor that operated in back rooms.

``They had some computer equipment in here, but it was junk,'' said Lt. Stoney Turnage, chief of the vice division. ``The computer business was just a front for the video poker business.''

Officers confiscated $3,800 in cash during the raid, said Investigator Roderick Berry.

Undercover officers visited the business three times in recent weeks, gaining access by pressing a buzzer and waiting to be let in by an employee, Lt. Turnage said.

``That showed that it wasn't a legitimate business,'' he said.

At the time of the visits, there were many more machines in the back rooms, but they had been moved out before Monday's raid, Lt. Turnage said.

The undercover officers redeemed their winning points for Wal-Mart gift certificates. Points may be redeemed for only in-house prizes or gift certificates, Lt. Turnage said.

No arrests had been made by Monday afternoon, and investigators were still trying to locate the owner, Loan T. Ngo, Investigator Berry said.

Mr. Craig will decide whether charges will be filed against the employees who gave the officers the Wal-Mart gift certificates, Investigator Berry said.

On July 14, the sheriff's department shut down three video-poker parlors and arrested two people on commercial gambling charges in connection with making cash payoffs.

During that raid, the vice squad confiscated 45 video poker machines and about $9,000 in cash and two handguns in the city's effort to keep South Carolina's outlawed video poker industry out of Augusta.

The Augusta Commission subsequently revoked the licenses of two of the businesses and rushed through a third round of amendments to the city's arcade ordinance. The owner of the third arcade shut down by the sheriff's department voluntarily surrendered his business license.

Despite the ongoing crackdown on gaming parlors, many of those in law enforcement and the video poker business say the law isn't clear on what is and isn't legal.

Some officials say they'll look to state lawmakers to clarify some convoluted parts of the state's coin-operated amusement game laws during the next legislative session - which begins in January.

``It's pretty ambiguous as to what you can and can't do,'' said Terry Norris, executive vice president of the Georgia Sheriff's Association.

District Attorney Danny Craig and Les Schneider - attorney for the Georgia Amusement & Music Operators Association - say the law is very simple to read. But their interpretations of several parts, including the types of machines allowed and prizes given to winners, are almost completely opposite.

``It's just not clear,'' Columbia County Sheriff Clay Whittle said. ``It doesn't clearly define what is in the law and what is not.''

He does not have to look far for help in state legislature. State Rep. Ben Harbin (R-Martinez) said he's ready to lead the fight.

``We don't want to have that cancer come to this state, and I'm going to do everything I can to prohibit it from coming here,'' he said Monday. ``We've got several interpretations of this law - all feeling they are correct. What we have to do now is get together and draft something that is going to tighten up the legislation.''

He said state leaders should look at South Carolina's example.

``When South Carolina stopped video poker, they made it very clear it was against the law,'' he said. ``This is not something that is going to go away. Those folks have to go somewhere with that industry for that revenue.''

Mr. Harbin said ambiguity in the law normally means a potential lawsuit is coming.

Some changes would be a welcome addition for local officials.

``What would be ideal would be if you could identify these games by name in either some sort of regulation,'' Mr. Craig said. However, he added, the absence of specific machine names does not affect enforcement.

Mr. Schneider also said he would welcome some clarification - specifics that would keep large-scale video poker parlors out of Georgia.

``We are willing to sit down with any local governments and work out an ordinance to make it clear that honest operators are welcome and dishonest operators need to go somewhere else,'' he said. ``I think there could also be a clarification under the state licensing law. We certainly can add in other requirements to ensure the unsightly locations can be eliminated.''

So far, though, the video poker issue has been quiet in Atlanta. Mr. Norris said - other than recent calls from Sheriff Whittle - it's been months since he's heard about the issue. And Legislative Counsel Sewell R. Brumby hasn't heard anything at all.

Reach Jason B. Smith at (706) 868-1222, Ext. 115.