Bussiness
Game over! Newark, Heath use new ordinances to put skill game operators out of business
NEWARK − All known illegal skill game businesses operating in the city of Newark have either been shut down or are in the process of being put out of business, according to Newark Police.
City Council updated its ordinance last year to outlaw the businesses, forcing most to close, but Chances R and Lucky Buttons remained open.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission, working with Newark Police and the Licking County Sheriff’s Office, closed Chances R, 369 E. Main St., on April 24.
The state commission searched Chances R and a home in Marne, as part of an ongoing investigation into illegal gambling, and seized gaming equipment, cash, documents and other items, police said. No one was arrested.
Ohio Casino Control Commission regulates skill games, investigates complaints
The Ohio Casino Control Commission “received some complaints about the business operating illegal slot machines,” spokesperson Jessica Franks said.
“If it’s similar to other complaints we receive, usually they either won a jackpot and don’t get paid out or have concerns about the machines — how they’re set up.”
Chances R, located in a small building at East Main and North Cedar streets, had “20-some” slot machines, Franks said.
Newark police contacted the state commission about the two remaining operators after all the others complied with the new law and closed.
“We license businesses and approve businesses,” Franks said. “Only legal skill games get approved by the commission. As soon as you pay out cash, it’s not legal.”
Newark Police Sgt. Chuck Wilhelm said, “We contacted (the commission), and they said they’d handle it. All we did was go into the residence and business to secure it, and they’ll do all the charges.”
Newark, other cities have battled skill games for decades, claiming they bring other illegal activity
Newark, and many other cities, have battled with skill game businesses for many years, even decades.
In 2010, The Columbus Dispatch reported Terrian L. Paxson was charged with a felony count of tampering with evidence and a misdemeanor charge of prohibited conduct while operating a skill-based amusement machine.
Paxson was co-owner of Chances R, when police raided the business 14 years ago. In the indictment, prosecutors accused her of paying cash in exchange for a noncash prize awarded to someone playing a skill-based game in her parlor.
Newark Police Sgt. Clint Eskins said Paxson remains co-owner of the business.
Before the city’s new ordinance, the city had up to a dozen skill game locations, which attracted various types of illegal activity, police said.
“It was off the hook,” Wilhelm said. “Drug complaints, theft, all kinds of problems with them. A den of iniquity. It was nice to close these places down.
“Every time Ohio or a city passed a law, they would just find a work-around,” Wilhelm said. “They just kept figuring a way around it. Hopefully, this time, all the T’s are crossed and all the I’s are dotted, and we don’t have to have these in Ohio.”
Newark Law Director Tricia Moore told the City Council a year ago the city should not allow the illegal businesses to operate. The city licensed the businesses, but they did not have state licenses.
Deputy Police Chief Darrin Logan told the council last year that officers responded to 183 calls for service to gaming parlors in 2022. Moore said there were 68 calls to Shamrocks Gaming, 335 Mount Vernon Road, in the former Subway restaurant location, from Jan. 1, 2022, to Jan. 30, 2023. There were 35 calls to The Fishhouse, 300 S. 30th St., and 32 calls to Goldies, 241 S. Fifth St.
Heath has also battled with skill games popping up through the years but has closed all operations of which it’s aware in the city.
“We passed an ordinance last year regulating any of those establishments to be licensed by the state,” Police Chief Dave Haren said. “When we passed our ordinance, two of the operators stopped, and the last one stopped at the end of the year.
“Many are not paying out within the guidelines of the law and wanted to keep doing what was making them money.”
A skill game business had been operating near the giant golf ball on Ohio 79, but the chief said it is outside the city limits, in Union Township, and Heath police have no jurisdiction there. There are no signs the business is still there.
Lucky Buttons not part of recent raids; unclear whether it’s still open
The Lucky Buttons name still appears on the business at 1024 Mount Vernon Road, but it’s unknown if it’s still operating. Police said it was not part of the April 24 raids on Chances R and the Marne home.
Dave Willis, owner Maxine’s Bargain Box, next to Lucky Buttons in the Colonial Shopping Center, said the business was open as recently as April 28.
“They had a sign … (that said) ‘Open 10-8, please knock,’” Willis said.
Lucky Buttons has not been a problem since it replaced Lucky Dragon a year ago, Willis said. But Lucky Dragon was a different story, he said.
“Lucky Dragon, they brought a lot of problems,” Willis said. “A guy pulled a gun in the parking lot. We closed the doors and called the cops. It was just bad.
“It’s not the game; it’s the management of the game. This group has never created a problem. They’ve always been quiet. You don’t even know they’re there.”
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Twitter: @kmallett1958
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