Cops Bust Illegal 8-liner Gambling Trailer

The Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office raided a double-wide trailer Saturday night around 10 p.m. and arrested three suspected gambling operators, seized nearly 70 illegal gambling machines and issued citations to about 40 patrons. Five other suspected employees of the illicit casino were cited with Class A misdemeanor court summonses.

More than two dozen law enforcement officers from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, state police and Texas Rangers also participated in the raid on the establishment, located off FM 225 just outside the city limits.

Patrons remained at their seats while authorities combed the trailer for evidence of drugs, guns and alcohol, but none were found. Inside the back office, police recovered an electronic money counter, and at the front desk, three fire-proof safes were located containing an undetermined amount of money and gift cards.

After sending two undercover officers inside, the sheriff’s office received the go-ahead via text message about an hour later to conduct the raid, which involved over a dozen marked and unmarked police vehicles. Police first took into custody a suspected look-out in front of the dirt road that led to the trailer while other vehicles raced toward the full parking lot in front of the trailer. Once the property was secured, police began issuing citations to the mostly middle aged and elderly patrons inside. Some worried that they would lose their jobs over the raid, and others just remained silent but cooperative while police searched the structure.

Speaking with reporters at the scene, Nacogdoches County Sheriff Thomas Kerss said, “Obviously we think it was a very successful operation from our standpoint. It’s very obvious that this is an ongoing illegal gaming operation, and we will seize any cash involvement.”

Based on a local citizen’s tip, Daily Sentinel reporters visited the alleged gambling hall earlier in the week to verify sources’ claims that a double-wide trailer located on a dirt road about 500 yards off of FM 225, just outside the city limits, was, in fact, a popular, yet illegal, casino.

Upon entering, a Daily Sentinel reporter saw about four dozen 8-liner machines and other various arcade-type games crammed into the dimly lit and smoke-filled trailer. Once inside, a money changer, with an inch-thick stack of $5 bills, asked the reporter if he was a police officer, to which the reporter said “no,” made change and sat down at a machine located a few feet from the main counter, where several people were observed to be talking and doing some sort of bookkeeping. While inside the trailer, at around 5:30 p.m., there were about 15 people, mostly middle aged or elderly, playing games like “Money to Burn” and “Trick-or-Treat.” In short time, a cash pay-out was witnessed, verifying that the establishment was operating outside the bounds of state law. When The Daily Sentinel took its information to the Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office, a statement was given, and shortly after a warrant was issued to raid the trailer.

8-liners provide bettors eight ways to win, and they look like most slot machines, or video poker machines. While they are not explicitly illegal in Texas, the law says winnings are limited to non-cash prizes worth less than $5 or not more than 10 times the bet. Because 8-liner casinos are often associated with being used to support other illegal operations, such as drug trafficking, and represent lost revenue to the state, the Texas Legislature is currently trying to crack down on them by drafting stricter regulations on those who operate the machines. Operation of an illegal gambling machine is a Class A misdemeanor, and a second offense is a state jail felony. Las Vegas and Atlantic City slot machines are paying out roughly 87 percent of the time and are regulated by state authorities. But un-regulated Texas 8-liners are said to only pay out only about 25 percent, or as low as the owner wishes to set the machine to. 8-liners cost between $1,000 and $2,000 but are capable of making 10 times that in a single month if heavily played.

Reportedly, the gaming devices had been moved from another location in Rusk County near Garrison just six weeks ago, and its loyal clientèle followed the machines into Nacogdoches County where they were placed in a new trailer, complete with wheel chair accessibility, a few hundred feet off FM 225 adjacent to where the former Deep East Texas Regional Narcotics Task Force used to operate. It was apparent that in addition to offering illegal gambling, alcohol was being served from a refrigerator inside the trailer. The property that the backwoods casino sits on is owned local landlord Don Beck, who in 2006 at the age of 72 was sentenced to 12 months in a federal prison and 12 additional months of home detention on illegal firearms charges. Many of Beck’s properties have long been attributed to criminal activity, including prostitution and drug dealing. There was no immediate information available to directly connect Beck with the illegal gambling operation at this seized property.