| Letters: Video gambling eases into Dallas 04/08/2001 Stop illegal slots!
Re: "Disputed state law, prosecutors' reluctance leave slots unregulated," April 1.
What is going on with these slot parlors? It is illegal. Why are they popping up all over Dallas and the suburbs? You can't say there is not gambling going on. If you play machines at the slot places, some people lose $400 and more a night. This is gambling. Stop the slot places. I have lost that much and can't afford it. They feed you and try to console you when you lose. Stop it now!
MAXINE SCHWARTZ, Dallas
The owners' 'side'
Re: "Video gambling eases into Dallas," April 1.
I am a game room owner/operator outside of Dallas, who has served my country so that we Americans have the right to live the American dream. In the article it refers to the "fuzzy animal" law. The way the article reads it is OK for children (who spend their parents' money) to have the right to enjoy harmless entertainment and be compensated, yet grown adults do not have the same right to spend their own money playing penny and nickel games to win a $5 gift certificate instead of a stuffed animal.
You also mention Amusement and Music Operators of Texas, and cleaning up the industry. In reality all they care about is getting a monopoly on the games and putting the small-business owner out of business. Take a closer look at this organization and you will see why it wants to pass this bill. Its members run the bingo halls, have the games in truck stops and gas stations across Texas. Is gambling the issue? Bingo halls? State lottery? Horse tracks? Are these not gambling?
People who have a gambling addiction will not be stopped by shutting down game rooms, they will simply turn back to the bingo halls and lottery – does that make everything better?
I truly hope that The Dallas Morning News would show some journalistic integrity and tell both sides of the story. We are not unregulated criminals, we are hardworking citizens who have invested our hard-earned money in a business that provides cheap entertainment for the working class. You quote "facts" – true – but you have left out a lot of facts.
Why is the prosecution rate so low? Because it is not illegal.
JEREMY HICKMAN, Member of Texas Amusement Association, Garland
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