So what is everyone in Tallahassee talking about these days? Seems like the buzz in the legislative hallways the last few weeks has centered on Dave and Buster’s and Chuck E. Cheese’s.
Why are grown men and women spending so much time preoccupied with businesses that feature children’s games?
It seems that an exemption granted to these entertainment facilities, best known for hosting teenager’s birthday parties, has been exploited by operators of unregulated slot machine operations.
These operators prey upon the elderly by offering a cup of coffee or a slice of cake while providing entertainment in the form of slot machines programmed to return less than 70% of the money played in the machines.
By contrast, machines at the regulated Miami-Dade and Broward County pari-mutuel casinos are required to return at least 85% of the money inserted in these machines.
In fact, all of the regulated casinos make well less than a 10% return with some returning over 93% to their patrons. The “house” retains about 7% of the money played in the machines while redistributing 93% back to their customers.
At these so-called patron friendly “adult arcades,” conversation and dessert takes a 30% bite out of the patron’s pockets. Regulation and full public disclosure makes the Miami- Dade and Broward County facilities a far safer bet for those inclined to try their luck.
