Deputies Confiscate Dozens Of Machines In Gambling Raids

CHICAGO -- More than 60 poker machines were seized in a series of raids throughout Cook County over the past week, NBC5's Phil Rogers reported Monday. Authorities destroyed dozens of the $5,000 machines that were confiscated in the undercover sting operation. During a recent court case involving mob influence in the western suburbs, it was estimated that in a single decade, the outfit raked in some $22 million from video poker machines in three communities. The machines themselves are legal when used for amusement only, but bar owners are accused of paying out to winners -- an illegal gambling practice. The machines are even licensed by the state and local communities, but gambling makes the legal machines against the law. There are estimates the machines are in half of the establishments that serve liquor in Illinois. "If you're talking 60 machines, that could be $5 million -- absolutely no taxes," Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan said. The sheriff's department showed NBC5 undercover video of a bartender paying a person who won on one of the machines. Authorities said such payouts are a usual routine, even though winners are few and far between. "On bar-owned machines, it's usually anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of the time, they'll pay out -- sometimes lower than that," Cook County Sheriff's Police Officer Peter Rains said. Several people were arrested this week, including Anton Cermak, a descendant of Chicago's legendary mayor. Cermak operates a bowling alley in Brookfield. A licensing sticker for one of the machines can generate $500 bucks in revenue for a community, but those in law enforcement contend those gains come at a cost, and it's no mystery where the money goes. Rains said gambling on the machines is "tied to organized crime." "The state can't continue to just take a nod and a wink and say, 'Yeah, this doesn't really go on; these are just amusement machines,'" Sheahan said. "It's legal for the machines, but it's illegal to pay out." Investigators charged 16 people and confiscated five dozen machines. But 100,000 amusement machines are licensed by the state. Rogers reported that one establishment raided Thursday had a new set of poker machines up and running Monday morning.