SAN ANTONIO – The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has raided and shut down a West Side gaming room that investigators say was issuing illegal payouts to customers.
On Thursday, investigators descended upon Silver City, a storefront business located near Highway 90 and Military Drive, and seized 44 gaming machines as well as more than $19,000 in cash, according to a news release from BCSO.
“What we found is a total of about seven people, five that were there playing the games and then two employees that were there as well,” Sheriff Javier Salazar told KSAT 12 News on Friday morning.
Those arrested have been identified as Olga Sifuentes Rodriguez, 66, and Ecstasy Leyva, 21. Salazar said he also expected the owner of the business, who was not in custody yet, to face criminal charges.
Salazar said game rooms, in general, are not necessarily illegal in Texas.
However, the way they pay out customers’ winnings makes the difference, he said.
“Any time that somebody’s paid out more than 10 times the amount of what they bet, then it becomes illegal,” Salazar explained.
He said in many cases, those who are running illegal operations will try to get around the law by awarding a non-monetary prize, then allowing the customer to exchange it later for cash.
“My understanding is they were giving out beads that you would then go to some sort of a store nearby and sell those beads to the person there,” Salazar said regarding the staff at Silver City.
The sheriff said Thursday’s bust was the result of an ongoing effort to crack down on illegal gambling. He said investigators received a tip about Silver City that ultimately led to the raid.
“Whether you’re in the unincorporated areas or whether you’re in the city, our organized crime group is still going to be looking at what these folks are doing and are still going to be acting upon it,” Salazar said.
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