Gaming Industry Partnership Will Crack Down On Illegal Gambling In Texas 8-Liners Targeted

GETTING TOUGH:Although they have not pulled out their sledgehammers yet, the American Gaming Association and the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers have joined forces to battle illegal gambling. As part of the new crime-fighting initiative, the two industry groups have begun targeting the 8-liner operations in Texas. [Photo: Chicago Tribune Historical Archives]

According to association officials, the initiative will focus on four key areas of illegal gambling: sports and online betting, black market machines and Internet sweepstakes cafés. The effort will study the criminal activity patterns in order to develop "actionable intelligence." The associations hope to find measures that will eradicate or severely reduce illegal gambling while helping to track other criminal activity, including money laundering.

"Over the past several months, AGA has been shining a spotlight on the vast, dangerous illegal gambling operations running rampant across the country, and few places exemplify the thriving nature of illegal gambling better than Texas, where hundreds of thousands of black market machines are currently in operation," said AGA president and chief executive Geoff Freeman. "By partnering with AGEM and building on the already strong support of law enforcement officials at every level, we will make real progress in shutting down illegal operators."

In April the AGA launched its "Stop Illegal Gambling - Play it Safe" program to work hand-in-hand with law enforcement, attorneys general and other agencies to expose illegal gambling. While 8-liner machines are not technically illegal in Texas, payouts by law must be limited to $5 in noncash prizes. Gamerooms in most cases are clearly not following the law, creating a statewide environment of illegal gambling activity that has spread rapidly over the past few years.

"AGEM represents the most respected licensed and regulated gaming suppliers in the world, and we no longer can remain silent about the current environment of widespread illegal gambling in Texas," added AGEM president Thomas Jingoli, chief compliance officer of Konami Gaming. "On behalf of our 140-plus member companies who supply gaming equipment and technology to regulated markets around the world, we are asking for law enforcement in Texas, from the highest levels in Austin to the smallest communities, to enforce the state's existing laws that forbid the kind of uncontrolled activity that continues to spread."

Notably, the campaign seeks to distinguish the nation's highly regulated $240 billion legal gaming industry, which supports 1.7 million jobs and generates $38 billion in taxes across 40 states, from the criminal networks that rely on illegal gambling to fund violent crimes and drug and human trafficking.