Texas police breaks an unusual illegal gambling ring

Deputies from Travis County, Texas broke a quite unusual illegal gambling establishment in Pflugerville on Thursday.

Texas illegal gambling An Internet cafe owner was loading the computers with gambling software, however, this is not a case of online gambling. The software was running on the fifteen PCs, they had all the popular casino games, and payouts were made through magnetic strip cards, but the computers did not let you gamble on the Internet. Customer would deposit with the cafe owner and would get paid on the spot, if the won. Authorities received numerous complains about the place from neighboring businesses, and went undercover to the Internet cafe where they gambled and won on a few occasions. Similar to the usual eight-liners, this Internet cafe owner was covering the real purpose of the establishment by using the computers instead of the regular big gambling machines.

The owner of the Internet cafe was arrested and charged with illegal gambling. The people who were gambling at the time of the bust were not arrested, but future charges may be filed against them, as well. The operation was a part of a country-wide crackdown on illegal gambling establishments.

04/21/2007