Press release from the Florida Gaming Control Commission<\/p>\n
CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014\u00a0The Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC), in partnership with the Cape Coral Police Department, recently seized 60 illegal slot machines from a business operating under the guise of a legal bingo establishment. The enforcement, known as\u00a0Operation Going Downtown, took place at 2708 Santa Barbara Boulevard, Suite 108, in Cape Coral, at a location named Uptown Bingo.<\/p>\n
\u201cBingo is fun, and the FGCC supports lawful play,\u201d\u00a0said FGCC Commissioner Peter Cuderman. \u201cUnfortunately, criminals prey on Floridians by using a bingo theme on slot machines and falsely claiming these games are legal. If you have concerns about the legality of a bingo operation, call our tipline at 850-880-3433. Our FGCC agents are here to serve Floridians and protect them from unscrupulous operators.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese illegal operations are more than just unauthorized games\u2014they are unlawful businesses that undermine legitimate charitable gaming and can create opportunities for broader criminal activity,\u201d\u00a0said Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore.\u00a0\u201cOur partnership with the Florida Gaming Control Commission allows us to effectively investigate these operations and protect the residents of Cape Coral. We remain committed to enforcing the law and ensuring businesses operate legally and responsibly within our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The FGCC reminds Floridians that bingo involving paid participation and prizes must comply with Florida law. Simply labeling a slot machine as \u201cbingo\u201d or \u201cinstant bingo\u201d does not make it legal.<\/p>\n
Floridians aged 18 or older may legally play bingo, including instant bingo, when the game is played using paper cards. Florida law strictly prohibits the play of bingo and instant bingo on electronic devices that display games of chance, including slot reels. Additionally, only certain organizations may offer traditional bingo in Florida, including: charitable, nonprofit, and veterans\u2019 organizations, as well as certain residential communities and groups.<\/p>\n
Under Florida law, an electronic machine or device that may entitle a player to a prize, whether through application of skill, by reason of any element of chance, or any other outcome unpredictable to the player, is considered a slot machine. This includes electronic devices that display the results of bingo or instant bingo games using depictions of slot reels or other games of chance.<\/p>\n
Slot machines are lawful at eight licensed locations in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, as well as at facilities operated by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. A mapped list of legal locations to play slots is available at\u00a0FLGaming.gov\/locations<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you suspect someone is operating an illegal bingo hall or casino, or conducting any other illegal gambling, you may submit a crime tip online at\u00a0FLGaming.gov\/File-a-Report<\/a>, by email at\u00a0Tipline@FLGaming.gov<\/a>, or by phone at 850-880-3433.<\/p>\n The FGCC appreciates its partnership with the Cape Coral Police Department and its continued efforts to combat illegal gambling in Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Press release from the Florida Gaming Control Commission CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014\u00a0The Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC), in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-374340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}