TALLAHASSEE - It's called the ''Chuck E. Cheese's'' loophole, and small-time gambling operators have exploited it to open strip-mall casinos across the state, especially in South Florida.
Lawmakers have introduced legislation to crack down on the gambling halls, which fall under Florida laws addressing adult amusement arcades. Players sit before slot machine-like terminals, pressing buttons to stop the whirling icons. Winnings can be exchanged for trinkets like coffee cups and lamps, or gift cards to gas stations, grocery stores and pharmacies.
= [100.0] = [100.0] proposed law also would force arcade owners to go to a city board for approval if they want to operate more than 50 machines.
''All I'm trying to do is give local government the zoning to stop it,'' said Greenstein, who has seen several arcades open near his district.
Dozens of the arcades have opened statewide over the past few years, as regulators have chased them out of South Carolina and Georgia.
There are more than 60 such arcades in South Florida now, said Ken Bank, a member of the board of directors of the Florida Arcade Association. Bank expects 200 more to open in the next year. His association is meeting today to discuss hiring a lobbyist to fight Greenstein's measure.
''To me, it's a bite in the rear end,'' Bank said. ``These arcades aren't making big money. These are local businesses.''
The proposed measure would prohibit arcades from handing out gift certificates as winnings; instead, customers would only be able to play for tokens redeemable for items at the arcade.
That's why it would not affect arcades such as Chuck E. Cheese's or Boomer's, where players take home prizes. Truck stops with more than six diesel pumps also are exempt.
Greenstein, known for his yearly efforts to legalize video gambling, said he's not opposed to gambling -- as long as it's regulated and the state can reap tax benefits. The arcades are unregulated and compete directly with existing tracks and jai alai frontons, which pay a cut of their earnings to the state.
Lobbyists for dog and horse tracks, who support the bill, crowded the committee room where Greenstein presented it Monday.
''They are untaxed and unregulated,'' said lobbyist Jack Cory, who represents greyhound tracks in Florida.
Cory cited an arcade in Daytona Beach, which opened next to a greyhound track. With longer hours and a year-round schedule, it has drawn customers away from the track, Cory said.
The appeal of the games is simple, said Marty Reagan, owner of Tropicana Game Room in North Miami.
''They can come in for an hour and play a five-dollar bill,'' Reagan said. ``We're just in neighborhoods, entertaining people.''
At 43, Tim Scranton is one of the younger customers at the Treasure Island Game Room in Pompano Beach. On Monday, his day off, he spent nearly eight hours at the arcade.
''I practically live over there,'' Scranton said.
The devices are similar to slot machines, but instead of stopping on their own, the player hits a bar to end the game. That makes the machines legal games of skill, not illegal games of chance, operators claim.
Greenstein's bill has been referred to the Business Regulation Committee, its final stop before a House vote. The Senate companion bill, sponsored by Sen. Steve Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, has been referred to two committees but has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.
(Herald researcher Elisabeth Donovan contributed to this report.>
