CAMERON COUNTY - It's everything you'd expect to see in Las Vegas, minus the glitz and the glamour; game rooms are booming. And it's putting some Valley families at risk because they're spending their money on a chance, rather than on their bills.
Eight-liner game rooms have become "Suzie's" favorite spot. She admits to being an "eight-liner addict."
"But it's fun!!! It's the excitement about pushing it. You push a button, then there's another button to stop," she said. "Usually it happens; you win and that's what hooks you."
Abandoned buildings throughout the Valley have been transformed into these small scale casinos.
"I've seen people that go betting and betting and betting and betting, putting 20's and 20's and 20's and 20's in like you wouldn't believe," Suzie said.
Suzie says she was first hooked three years ago and admits that at times a sense of shame sets in.
"You try and keep it from your family because if they know you go every day then they close your light or water, well, where's your money?"
And while she goes often, she admits that big wins are rare, but they do happen.
"They already lost so much that they have to keep on going just to see if they're going to get it back. But 99% of the time, you don't get it back," Suzie said.
At a game room near Olmito, we were ordered to hand over identification.
At an arcade just down the road, NEWSCHANNEL 5 went inside undercover with the cameras rolling. Complimentary drinks were offered and after playing a short time, we got a win.
An employee paid us $120 in cash. Paying out winners in cash is illegal.
The next stop was in Santa Rosa. It's a small town that covers 6/10 of a square mile, but within that small space, there are four operating gaming arcades. Three are located just outside the city limits.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 went into a red, unmarked building on Main Street. The windows were boarded up with a blinking "open" sign. Inside, an employee escorted us to a machine matching our $5 bet. In only 30 minutes, our unskilled players won $10 in credits. And then came the cash payout, even though just a few feet away in the same casino read a sign "No-cash payment."
The last stop was on an eight-liner on the outskirts of town. In minutes we won $60, pocketed it, then moved on.
Cameron County tax assessor, Tony Yzaguirre keeps records and tries to collect the taxes on the game rooms in the area. He says that the number of game rooms is growing.
In 2007, about 100 eight-liner game rooms were set up across Cameron County. This year, you'll find 130.
"There's more and more businesses being opened everyday," Yzaguirre said. "And we all know some of the machines are being used to pay out cash."
The machines are meant for amusement only and the prizes rewarded like toys. Those who break the law could lose their business.
In spite of efforts to crack down on illegal gambling, many places continue paying winners in cash.
"Kittie" is a former game room operator. She says that in Cameron County there aren't locations that do not pay cash because if they don't pay cash, they're not successful. She says there are big profits that come from running an illegal game room.
"It depends on the location. Depends on how many machines you have. You can make anywhere from $20 to $70 to $150-thousand a week gross," Kittie said.
After discovering what was going on at these eight-liner game rooms, NEWSCHANNEL 5 went back to the Santa Rosa location that paid us in cash just days ago. We showed up with our cameras rolling.
Many made a run for the door and the place emptied in seconds. Those who stayed behind said they are just at the game room to have fun.
An employee asked NEWSCHANNEL 5 to leave, though.
When the employee returned we told them we were there with our undercover camera and got paid cash. We asked if that was there policy.
"No sir. You just need to get out," the employee said.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 tried asking more questions, but the employee wouldn't have it. They kicked us out and locked the door even though there were still dozens of customers inside.
The tax assessor's office keeps careful logs of eight-liner machines, but the system keeps putting them back in circulation. They are hard to control because they open one day, are shut down the next, and then they re-locate.
The Tax Assessor says they can offer two solutions: Making running cash-back eight-liners a felony, or legalizing them. That way the machines would be accountable to every law enforcement agency out there.
The game rooms are busier than ever and if allowed to continue unregulated, they could transform quiet streets across the Valley in Vegas-like style strips.
