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eight liners

On game rooms and gambling

Dec 18th, 2014
by Charles Kuffner.
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Looks like Fort Bend County wants to follow in the footsteps of Harris County when it comes to dealing with game rooms.

Last weekend, Fort Bend County sheriff’s deputies raided the H-90 Game Room on U.S. 90A east of Richmond, hauling away 97 slot machines, interviewing and releasing about 30 customers and charging one employee with a misdemeanor.

Unlike many places that get shut down, though, the business that opened in July had not been the subject of any police calls for service.

The raid has prompted a discussion about how much of a threat game rooms actually pose to community safety.

Some Fort Bend residents had been pressing authorities to crack down on game rooms that sprouted up in the wake of Harris County’s enforcement of new rules targeting the establishments, often the scenes of shootings and other criminal activity. They didn’t want a proliferation of game rooms bringing the same problems to Fort Bend.

Sheriff Troy Nehls acknowledged that residents’ concerns prompted his department’s recent action, which involved four divisions of his office.

“We’ve received calls from the community, so we did what we could to address the issue,” the sheriff said. “This one was right off Highway 90, so it was more visible. Thus, we had more people calling concerned about the operation.”

Nehls said he takes game rooms seriously, but he played down their impact so far. He noted that he has seen no evidence of an uptick in violence, nor had there been any calls for police service at either the H-90 Game Room or another gambling parlor, on FM 359. It was open just a few months before voluntarily closing under pressure from nearby homeowners.

[…]

Other residents say authorities are wasting time cracking down on an activity they think should be legalized, even if it is only to discourage the gang activity that was often attracted to the cash-based operations in Harris County.

Larry Karson, a criminology professor at the University of Houston, said it’s the responsibility of police leaders not only to crack down on illegal activity, but to educate communities about the actual level of crime, particularly when an issue becomes a public debate.

“One generally expects any law enforcement official to recognize the concerns of the community,” Karson said. “If, based on that officer’s experience, it’s not quite as dangerous as might be assumed, he obviously needs to communicate that.”

The Texas Constitution bans most forms of gambling, but the poker-based eight-liners common to game rooms are legal to own as long as the prizes do not exceed $5 per play. Police, prosecutors and other Houston-area officials argue that most game rooms do not operate within those narrow rules, awarding larger cash sums illegally and drawing other criminal activity. To thwart enforcement of the state’s ban, officials say, many game rooms require paid memberships designed to keep out undercover officers.

Karson differentiated between the risk of crime at game rooms and at casinos, both of which attract robberies because of their cash payouts.

“You run into that security nightmare that legitimate casinos deal with by coordinating with police,” Karson said. “Any business that’s illegal doesn’t have that option. That leads to a potentially nasty cycle.”

As we know, Harris County has tightened its enforcement on game rooms thanks to some legislative help, and after surviving a lawsuit, enforcement is on in full swing. It’s not a surprise that some of this activity might cross the border into Fort Bend, or that Fort Bend might be a bit proactive about trying to stop it. I figure Fort Bend will get the legislative help it now seeks in expanding its authority against game rooms, much as Harris did in 2013, and I won’t be surprised if other counties follow suit.

What did surprise me in that story was the almost casual mention of the “other residents” who think game rooms should be legalized. I’m not sure if there are actual people making that case, or if that’s just sort of a clumsy shorthand for support for expanded gambling in Texas, as there wasn’t any further exploration of it. I wouldn’t have given it much more thought had I not also received this email from Houston Controller candidate Carroll Robinson, which discusses the very subject of game rooms and legalized gambling:

The Houston Chronicle has recently reported that “local investigations have revealed how lucrative the illegal gaming trade can be, providing operators with as much as $20,000 per day. With such establishments spread across some 700 strip centers in the county, their total proceeds could be larger than the [$1.55 billion] budget for all Harris County government.…”

Not only are illegal gaming rooms generating hundreds of millions of dollars per year in untaxed revenue, they are also magnets for crime. Wouldn’t it be better to legalize slot machines (at existing legal horse and dog racing tracks) and Casinos in Houston and allow the city to regulate them and collect extra revenues to pay for city services?

Legalizing slot machines at existing race tracks and legalizing casinos would also help eliminate illegal gaming rooms and the crime associated with them.
Even Metro would receive revenue from the increased sales tax revenue generated from legalized gaming.

The City of Houston should investigate and evaluate all its options for legalizing and regulating slot machines and casino gaming under its Home Rule Authority.

I can’t say I’ve seen many city candidates take a position on expanded gambling in Texas, as that’s a matter for the Legislature and not likely to directly intersect with Houston. Sam Houston Race Park is outside city limits, and I can’t imagine a casino being built here. I’m sure there would be some effect on the city if one or both of these things were to be legalized, but I doubt it would be much. I don’t know how much effect it would have on the game rooms, but my guess is that we’d still have them regardless. You can like the idea of expanded gambling or not – as you know, I’m very ambivalent – I just don’t think it has much to do with the game room issue.

Game room lawsuit dismissed

Aug 16th, 2014
by Charles Kuffner.
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From last week:

After a lengthy tussle over new game room regulations for Harris County, a federal judge Tuesday issued an order denying requests from a local game room owner to stop the new regulations.

“The game room situation in Harris County is a big problem,” said Fred Keys, an assistant attorney for Harris County. “This is a good result for the citizens of Harris County.”

In his suit against both county and city officials, game room owner Fabian Elizondo was attempting to stop enforcement of new game room regulations, which took effect May 30. He contended the new Harris County regulations would inhibit his right to make a living because the rules are too vague, making them difficult to follow.

U.S. District Court Judge David Hittner issued an order denying requests for relief from Elizondo, including his request for a permanent injunction against enforcing the new regulations. Hittner is expected to issue a final judgement in the next few weeks.

Attempts to reach Elizondo’s attorney were unsuccessful.

Now, Elizondo and his seven game rooms will be responsible for complying with those new regulations. The only regulation he is safe from, for now, is getting new county permits.

See here for the last update. Harris County adopted tighter rules late last year, and is doing the enforcement of the rules, with HPD working under these rules for enforcement within Houston. I’ll be interested to see what if any effect this has on the game rooms – will they comply, or will they just go further underground? Should make for an interesting case study if nothing else.

Game room enforcement back on in Harris County

May 31st, 2014
by Charles Kuffner.
4 comments

Better choose your eight liner provider carefully.

After clearing a few legal hurdles, Harris County’s new game room regulations – on which the city of Houston is piggybacking – are set to take effect Friday.

Late Tuesday after a hearing, a federal judge denied a request from a game room owner and operator for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked the new rules from being implemented. The accompanying lawsuit against Harris County – the second filed since Commissioners Court approved the regulations in December – still is active, with another hearing set for next month.

Under the regulations, game rooms with six or more video poker or “eight liner” machines will be required to obtain permits, pay a $1,000 annual fee, shut down between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., and leave windows unobstructed. The shops also will be required to identify themselves with signs reading “Game Room” and would be barred from requiring a membership for entry, a practice officials say keeps police out.

The new rules were originally set to take effect in March, but the Harris County Sheriff’s Office decided to delay implementation until May 30 to allow more time for game rooms to comply.

See here, here, here, and here for the background. According to Hair Balls, a motion for preliminary injunction is set for June 23, but enforcement is now happening. So be careful where you gamble, you never know when the heat may be on.

Game room injunction lifted

Mar 18th, 2014
by Charles Kuffner.
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The temporary reprieve that Harris County ganerooms got from the courts has been lifted.

Houston and Harris County moved one step closer Friday in their quest to crack down on illegal game rooms after a judge threw out a restraining order which had blocked new regulations due to come into effect this month.

Game room owner Altaf Makanojiya, 31, had sought the restraining order and a permanent injunction against the new rules which his lawyers say are a “transparent attempt to outlaw game rooms.”

According to City Attorney, David Feldman, the judge flatly denied the injunction, just one week after the restraining order halting the new laws had been put in place.

Attorneys for the county confirm the ruling saying they believe the judge agreed with their claim that Makanojiya had no legal basis for his suit because his primary business is supplying poker machines, not operating game rooms.

First Assistant County Attorney Robert Soard said his team are awaiting final clarification early next week but stated that if they are correct, the suit against them will now be dismissed entirely.

Even without a full dismissal, this means the new regulations go into immediate effect in Harris County with City officials looking to adopt them all across Houston as soon as paperwork can be finalzed.

“County to approve interlocal (agreement) in short order so enforcement within City can then begin,” Feldman said via text message.

See here for the background. Harris County was given extra powers by the Legislature last year to regulate game rooms, and Houston contracted with them do enforce the new regulations rather than amend their own ordinances. It will be interesting to see how well this experiment works.

County enforcement of game room regulations halted for now

Mar 7th, 2014
by Charles Kuffner.
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Oops.

A quest by the county and city to crack down on illegal game rooms has hit a legal roadblock after a civil court judge granted a temporary restraining order barring Harris County from enforcing strict, new regulations.

The city had been poised to piggyback on the county’s rules under a new state law. Instead, its lawyers will join forces with the County Attorney’s Office to defend them.

At the request of a game room owner, state District Court Judge Elaine Palmer granted the restraining order late Friday, the day before the county’s regulations were set to take effect. A hearing has been set for March 14.

Lawyers for Altaf Makanojiya, 31, a game room owner and supplier of video poker machines known as “eight-liners,” sought the temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction against regulations Harris County Commissioners Court adopted in December for establishments housing six or more video poker machines.

[…]

Eight-liners are legal in Texas, but game room operations that award more than a few dollars in prizes are not. Officials for years have condemned the establishments as hotbeds for illegal gambling, armed robberies and other criminal activity.

Under the regulations in question, game rooms operators must obtain permits, pay a $1,000 annual fee, shut down between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. and are banned from requiring a membership for entry, a practice officials say keeps police officers out. New game rooms must be located at least 1,500 feet from schools, churches and residential neighborhoods.

See here for the background, and here for a recent Chron story about the city/county enforcement agreement. Houston adopted an ordinance regulating game rooms six years ago, which among other things had the effect of causing some game room operators to relocate outside city limits. That made Harris County lobby the Legislature to pass a law giving it enforcement capabilities, which it got last year. The county’s new regs allowed for cities to opt in and team up with them on enforcement, which is what Houston did. Now we wait for the judge to sort it out before that goes into effect. I personally see nothing nefarious about the new regulations, but you never know what will happen with a lawsuit like this.

County to tighten regulations on game rooms

Dec 20th, 2013
by Charles Kuffner.
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It’s sort of a crackdown, but within limits. And something that’s regulated is something that’s legal, so there’s that.

The regulations, made possible by a state law passed earlier this year by the Legislature, requires an establishment housing six or more video poker machines known as “eight-liners” to obtain a permit and pay a $1,000 annual fee – nearly twice what the city currently charges. The county regulations also would mandate that game rooms operate only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., have untinted windows and a sign on the outside of the building that says “Game Room” in large lettering.

Game rooms that open after the regulations take effect in March must be located at least 1,500 feet away from schools, churches and residential neighborhoods. There are an estimated 300 game rooms in unincorporated Harris County, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

First Assistant County Attorney Robert Soard said the most substantive change made to the regulations since they first were drafted was exempting “charitable” bingo halls from the distance, window and sign requirements. Those halls that operate “under a license issued by the Texas Lottery Commission” still will have to get permits from the county.

See here, here, and here for the background. The bill in question was HB1127. I don’t think these regulations are too stringent, though a mouthpiece for the gameroom operator claims that enforcing these rules will force a lot of operators underground. You can use that logic to argue against most kinds of regulation, of course. At least a regulated gameroom is one where you don’t have to worry about the cops busting in on you, and it’s one where if something bad happens to you, you can report it to the cops without them asking you embarrassing questions. It’s not like there aren’t differences in quality and openness with the current state of anarchy anyway.

Speaking of the cops, the county has now leapfrogged past the city of Houston in its ability to regulate these things. But they’re willing to share.

While the law allowing the crack down on game rooms applies to all law enforcement agencies within the county, Soard has said the county is allowing the city and other incorporated municipalities with their own law enforcement agencies to opt in to the new regulations through interlocal agreements.

On Monday, he said the Harris County Sheriff’s Office is in discussions with the city about a potential agreement that would allow the Houston Police Department to operate under the county’s regulations.

Notable differences between the county and city regulations include the definition of a game room and maximum penalties for violations.

City ordinance applies to establishments that have more than four eight-liners and imposes a standard Class C misdemeanor maximum fine of $500 for violations; the county’s proposed regulations would impose a penalty of up to $10,000 for every day a violation exists.

The city also has not been able to regulate the location of game rooms because of its virtually nonexistent zoning authority.

I’m not sure what a lack of zoning has to do with anything. Houston has been able to regulate bars, liquor stores, sexually oriented businesses, and plenty of other things. Be that as it may, it makes sense for the county and the cities to sync up on this. It would be better if the state took a unified approach as well, but one step at a time. Texpatriate has more.

Harris County wants to be like the city in regulating eight-liners

Apr 1st, 2013
by Charles Kuffner.
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One of the main differences between Houston and Harris County is that the city can generally do what it wants to do while the county had to get a law passed to do the same thing.

When the city of Houston began enforcing stricter regulations on topless clubs and massage parlors, officials saw complaints against those sexually oriented businesses increase in the unincorporated parts of Harris County. Then in 2009, the Legislature granted counties the authority to regulate those kinds of establishments, which law enforcement officials said were operating as fronts for prostitution and human trafficking.

Now, Harris County is seeking similar authority from the state to regulate game rooms outside Houston city limits, which the Sheriff’s Office says have tripled in number in the last five years after the city tightened laws to combat what officials say have become hotbeds for armed robberies, homicides and other illegal activity.

“Our goal here is to make sure our law enforcement has adequate tools to make sure the law is being followed,” said Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle, who said game rooms are “popping up” in north and northeast Harris County. “Whenever I’m visiting the precinct, the east side in particular, the little ladies in the Baptist church come out and say, ‘Will you please shut down the game hall that’s going on behind my church?’ ”

Bills sponsored by Houston-area lawmakers, modeled after city of Houston ordinances, would require game rooms with five or more machines, known as “eight-liners,” to receive permits from the county, which would inspect them. The bills also would give the county the power to cite violations, which would be elevated from Class C to Class A misdemeanors, as well as limit the location and number of game rooms.

“Whenever the city bans something, then it gets moved out into the unincorporated areas, so we’ve got to be able to deal with some of these less-than-desirable activities in the unincorporated areas, and game rooms are clearly one of them,” said County Judge Ed Emmett.

Sgt. Christopher Montemayor, who supervises the vice unit in the Sheriff’s Office, told state lawmakers earlier this month that Houston-area game rooms have seen 90 aggravated robberies, six homicides – with employees, patrons or security guards as victims – in the past few years.

“These businesses are growing, and we are trying to do something to deter these illegal establishments,” Montemayor said while testifying in favor of House Bill 1127, sponsored by Rep. Wayne Smith, R-Baytown. He added that “25 percent of these robberies go unreported because of the fact of the illegal activity going on there.”

See here and here for some background, and here for HB1127, which is currently pending in committee. I don’t see any obvious reason why it won’t pass, but sometimes these things happen. I just want to note that what Sgt. Montemayor says here about crimes going unreported at illegal eight-liner establishments is pretty much exactly what immigration advocates and law enforcement officials were saying two years ago during the “sanctuary cities” debate, which is that crimes against immigrants in general and undocumented immigrants in particular would increase under such a law since the victims of those crimes would be unwilling to call them in. I’m glad we didn’t have to learn that lesson the hard way.

The state would like for the counties to enforce the law against eight-liners

Sep 21st, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
1 comment

Apparently, some legislators who don’t much like gambling had a few things to say about that article about eight-liners.

“Eight-liners that provide cash prizes are against the law, and the law needs to be enforced,” [State Sen. Dan] Patrick said in a statement. “Without oversight, illegal game rooms become hot spots for crime.”

Patrick noted that there have been a number of shootings in and outside of game rooms recently.

“The state cannot just look the other way anymore,” he said. “The law must be enforced.”

[…]

[State Rep. Patricia] Harless, who authored a failed bill in 2009 on illegal eight-liners, agreed officials shouldn’t effectively sanction illegal activity by collecting a fee without making sure the businesses operate within the law. “They shouldn’t be able to collect a fee on something that is considered illegal,” she said.

But Harless said there hasn’t been much of an appetite for tougher eight-liner-related legislation in recent sessions of the Legislature. “It’s not a very popular concept,” she said. Too many businesses with legitimate games could be affected if lawmakers pass a measure, she said.

Again, I pronounce myself largely agnostic on the issue. I will say, however, that given the counties’ concerns about the cost of enforcing the anti-eight-liner laws, legislators who are unhappy with their lack of action ought to pony up the resources to help them do something about it. Otherwise, Patrick and Harless ought to accept the fact that they’re just prioritizing and making decisions based on their capacity.

Counties are skirting the state on gambling, too

Sep 16th, 2012
by Charles Kuffner.
2 comments

When eight-liners are outlawed, cities and counties will tend to look the other way rather than try to deal with enforcing the laws against them.

Some of the money has arrived at the Duval County building in five-figure money orders or checks. But much of it has been in cash. This past April, county Treasurer Robert Elizondo took delivery of $33,700, most of it in hundreds and twenties.

“It’s very exciting to count all those twenties,” he said. “I’m going to be a bank teller after this; I’ve got the training.”

The money began pouring in soon after this sparsely populated county 90 miles west of Corpus Christi decided last summer to start charging an $800 licensing fee for each so-called eight-liner amusement machine inside its borders.

So far this year Duval County has collected just under $600,000 (about a quarter of it in cash), an amount equal to nearly 9 percent of its $7 million yearly budget.

More is expected; over Labor Day weekend, a sprawling new room with hundreds of eight-liners opened just outside the county seat of San Diego.

It could be the local government success story of the year: Confronted with a struggling economy and stagnant tax revenues, entrepreneurial officials in a county perhaps best known for its rich history of graft and political corruption uncover a lucrative new source of revenue.

But there’s a small catch.

“Of course the machines are illegal, as I understand it,” said Jo Ann Ehmann, the part-time bookkeeper for the tiny city of Gregory.

[…]

Texas’s eight-liner statutes are a mess. In their attempts to parse the differences between “amusement” and “gambling,” and determine the point at which jackpots become morally impermissible, lawmakers have rendered the statute all but unenforceable.

“The state’s definition of a gambling device is lengthier than the definition of murder,” said Shannon Edmonds, head of governmental relations for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. “In the real world, if you want to make something clearer, you simplify it. This was drafted by people who wanted it to be vague.”

Even those willing to plunge into an anti-eight-liner campaign find the deck stacked against them. Mounting an undercover operation takes weeks or even months of dedicated police time. Prosecutions cost money that could be spent pursing more serious crime — in all, “about $50,000 of taxpayer money to shut down an establishment,” Simpson estimated.

Tiny rural jurisdictions face their own unique hurdles. For example: How to initiate a covert operation when everyone knows all your police officers?

“As soon as one of our officers walks in, he’s recognized,” admitted Robert Brake, who, as chief of the Gregory Police Department, oversees two officers. With only one typically working at a time, Brake said, he hasn’t expended a lot of effort investigating the game rooms: “We stay pretty busy with accidents and thefts and so on. I don’t have the time.”

Any parallel to the Medicaid expansion situation is of course entirely coincidental. I have as you know some conflicted feelings about gambling, and I think unregulated gambling is even more problematic, since there’s no mechanism to protect customers from getting ripped off, but it’s easy to see this from the point of view of these small jurisdictions. There’s no upside to cracking down on the eight-liners, while taxing them provides a much-needed revenue source in tough times. What else would you expect them to do? One way or another, this is a problem for the state to fix. Just don’t expect it to happen any time soon.