Much like the gold-rush mentality of the 1800s, many adult arcade proprietors as well as video gambling machine owners find themselves pulling up stakes and locating new areas to operate, again and again.
And neither proponents nor opponents will disagree that the entire video gambling business is all about money. This is most evidenced by the nomadic pilgrimage of out-of-state machine owners who have infiltrated Alabama from states that have banned the machines such as Texas, Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.
One Georgia businessman, who leases his machines to an Alabama partner, has relocated his machines three times as counties such as Calhoun, Talladega and St. Clair have banned the gambling devices in recent months.
As business owners and machine suppliers attempt to slide around the ever-changing laws, they are also finding themselves at war with one another.
St. Clair County officials originally stated they would not make a decision until the Alabama Supreme Court ruled on the legality of video gambling. But a few local arcade owners were caught paying out in cash — which is currently illegal — and the sheriff shut them all down.
Dale Statton, owner of Shipwreck Arcade in St. Clair County, said, “Just because other people chose to break the law doesn’t mean the rest of us who are operating within the law should be punished.”
Statton, who has filed suit against the county, estimates he invested $13,000 to get his business in St. Clair County running.
“I put down two months’ worth of rent for the building plus paid county license fees and state and county tax for each machine,” he said. “I also spent a lot of money renovating the building and the parking lot.”
‘Playing by the rules’
While Statton has also operated adult arcades in Birmingham and Childersburg which were both closed down, he claims he has always worked within the law. “I’ve played by the rules. I’ve done what the law has allowed.”
Rick Taylor, owner of Treasure Chest Arcade in Pell City, is one who did not follow the law.
Six arrest warrants were issued July 16 for Taylor, Treasure Chest employee Rita Brooks Walker and Golden Chain Pawn Shop employee Debra Rose Crawford. The Golden Chain, which is owned by Taylor’s daughter, was paying Treasure Chest arcade winners in cash.
The Pell City Police Department issued a statement saying that “the investigation, which began June 11, produced evidence which resulted in various misdemeanor charges and combinations of charges including promoting gambling, conspiracy to promote gambling and possession of gambling records.”
“That guy got what he deserved. He was breaking the law, and he’s making the rest of us pay for his greed.”
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