John Borgstedt sealed his fate over a beer and a conversation with a stranger in a bar in east Texas.
“I’ve got a really good deal for you,” the stranger told him that night back in 2015.
Months later, Borgstedt was the owner of a gameroom featuring wall-to-wall slot machines that looked exactly like the ones in Las Vegas. He got rich fast, he said, pulling tens of thousands of dollars nightly from customers hoping to do the same or better.
Less than a year later, he was arrested on charges of illegal gambling, operating an illegal gambling establishment and organized crime. He spent six months in jail. He nearly lost the family’s home, his wife suffered a job loss and had her car repossessed. He sank into despair.
But the most remarkable part of his story was yet to unfold.
While in jail, he became a Christian and repented. Now, in what he describes as the ultimate act of absolution, Borgstedt is leading a grass roots effort to stop the spread of a new generation of bell ringing slot machines that have permeated gamerooms like the one he used to run.
In doing so, he has become a pivotal figure in the ongoing battle between anti-gambling and pro-gambling forces in Canton, a small but growing community in Van Zandt County.
“I will run into a brick wall over my community,” said Borgstedt, 48, who also runs the local barbecue trailer in the town’s famous flea market. “I love these people here. I want what’s right. I don’t like things that are being done wrong.”
Borgstedt’s beef is with local operators who have placed these new slot machines in gas stations, convenience stores and in gamerooms in Van Zandt County.
The slot machines have been deemed legal by one district court judge, though others such as Borgstedt disagree with the ruling that has put his home county at the center of a debate that could alter the landscape of gaming in Texas.
The battle here is so fierce it has essentially defined the district attorney’s race.
Relying on the court ruling, incumbent Tonda Curry asserts that the devices are not gambling machines and has permitted businesses to feature them in their establishments. Challenger Richard Schmidt disagrees with that assessment and is being backed by residents who are pushing to unseat her, including state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood.
Hall, who is one of the most outspoken critics of gambling in the legislature, has teamed up with Borgstedt in the drive to eradicate the devices from the region he represents. Edgewood is less than 10 miles from Canton.
They have their work cut out for them.
“Every gas station in this county besides two and in Edgewood have games in them,” Borgstedt said.
Several gamerooms also operate in Van Zandt County, according to a recent report from the Van Zandt County Fire Marshal.
The gamerooms also feature games other than slots. One popular gaming device is known as a “fish table.” In the game, at least eight players crowd around a 55-inch LED TV that is placed face-up. Each player then uses a joystick and a few buttons to shoot icons that float around to accumulate points.
Whatever the game, players can redeem points won in the gamerooms, He shared one Facebook post with The Dallas Morning News of a woman smiling broadly in front of a slot machine, claiming she had won $3,000.
Another Facebook post from a gameroom in Ben Wheeler, a town 12 miles from Canton, states players can win jackpots of more than $4,000.
This could become the norm across the state, Hall said.
“That’s why I’m being very noisy about it,’’ he said, “because we have to stop it.”
Borgstedt defines it in stark terms: “We’re fighting a war here.’’
Accusations flying
Neither faction has shied away from being ugly about the other.
Curry, the Van Zandt district attorney who is hoping to keep her seat in the May 26 runoff, did not respond to three emails and a call requesting comment.
But on her campaign website, Curry said in a video that game manufacturers had changed the technology of their games to comply with Texas law, which made them legal. That aligns with a district judge’s ruling that these new machines have a memorization feature, which makes them games of skill, not chance, and are thus legal.
Rowdy’s Gameroom, located about 60 miles east of Dallas, offers a new generation slot machine that operators say is skill-based, not chance, and therefore legal. in Canton, Texas, May 15, 2026.
Visual by Tom Fox | The Dallas Morning News.
That opinion is one that gameroom owners are quick to emphasize. The machines look like slots, Rowdy Jake Heddin, owner of Rowdy’s Gameroom in Canton, told The News. But they are skill games.
Heddin said he had Curry’s support and accused her opponents of spreading lies about his and other lawful businesses. He said his opponents also have persuaded the local TV station to run what he calls false reports of unlawful activities at his business.
Borgstedt, on his Facebook page, BBQ And A Prayer, has taken frequent shots at Curry.
Curry has appeared on video urging voters to vote wisely.
“It’s probably no surprise to you,” Curry said in one of her campaign videos, “criminals don’t like me. And you know what? I’m OK with that.”
“Everybody knows she’s talking about me,” Borgstedt said.
It doesn’t matter, he said. He believes he stands for the greater good.
When he owned a gameroom, he didn’t think about the consequences of how it would affect the lives of everyday people. As an owner, his perspective changed because he saw people who would drop most of their paycheck in his gameroom and then couldn’t afford to buy groceries for their families.
At the time, he also didn’t understand it was an illegal business.
“I wanted to be rich.”
Now, he said, he wants to be redeemed.
Voters in Van Zandt County will essentially issue a referendum on the matter on May 26. That’s Election Day.
Series credit
Editor: Alvie Lindsay
Reporter: Yamil Berard
Audience Editors: Siali Siaosi, Ashley Slayton
Audience Journalist: Zaira Perez Viera
Audience Strategist: Jeffrey Meddaugh
Sr. Audience Strategist: Alma Lozoya
Development: Peixuan Yu (Lily)
Visual Journalists: Brett Coomer from Houston Chronicle, Shafkat Anowar, Smiley Pool, Juan Figueroa, Elías Valverde II, Chitose Suzuki
Visual Editor: Di’Amond Moore
Video Editors: Azul Sordo, Samantha Guzman
Additional Photo Sources: Associated Press, San Antonio Express, Houston Chronicle, Getty Images
Data Editor: Kai Teoh
Graphics Editor: Laurie Joseph
Graphics: Mel Fronczek
Illustration: Michael Hogue