A gaming lounge in Berks County was actually an illegal casino with video slot machines and has been shut down following a raid, prosecutors announced Friday.
Windfall Amusements’ 777 lounge in the Kenhorst Plaza shopping center and a home in Exeter Township were raided Thursday morning as part of the investigation into unlawful operation of illegal video gambling devices that began in February, Berks County District Attorney John Adams said.
State police seized $67,760 in cash and 57 machines at the 777 casino. The business did not allow patrons under the age of 21, and cash payouts were made by the operators, Adams said.
“They were not a skill game. They were a gambling device,” Adams said, adding investigators believe most, it not all, of the machines have characteristics unique to gambling devices and are illegal.
Efforts to reach officials with Windfall Amusements were unsuccessful.
WFMZ reported that following Thursday’s raid, people could still be seen trying to go inside the business.
Two people were at the Exeter home, Adams said. They have not been charged. Adams said he expected charges will be filed in the future based on Thursday’s raid, but did not elaborate.
“They are definitely involved in some fashion with Windfall Amusements. We do not know their particular role with the company,” Adams said, adding prosecutors are still investigating.
State police said they believe the casino was operating since December. The business received approval from Kenhorst council in July 2019 to operate 60 machines, according to the Reading Eagle.
Adams noted a Reading Eagle article from February that Windfall Amusements was seeking approval to add 30 more single-chair video skill machines. That same month, state police began their investigation based on anonymous complaint, he said.
“It was advertised on Facebook as a casino” and was identified in a news report as a casino, Adams said.
The investigation was suspended for a period of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Investigators found
Windfall Amusements had no gaming license and paid nothing to operate what investigators determined was an illicit casino, Adams said. Penn National Gaming paid more than $7.5 million for its gaming license for a casino in nearby Morgantown, he added.
The state receives a percentage of slot machine revenue from licensed casinos, but it was not receiving any revenue from Windfall Amusements, prosecutors said.
“These type of operations around the state have to be closed, as the state receives no benefit whatsoever,” Adams said. “At the time that we need monies to operate governmental functions, it is very important that, if we’re involved in gambling, that they be through the licensed casino which creates revenue for the state of Pennsylvania. No monies were received by the state for these machines.”
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