{"id":18157,"date":"2026-08-19T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/?post_type=america&#038;p=18157"},"modified":"2026-08-18T21:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T02:47:16","slug":"florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots","status":"publish","type":"america","link":"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/america\/florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida cracks down on illegal bingo and seizes 60 slots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC)<\/strong> intensified its crackdown on illegal gambling with the seizure of <strong>60 slot machines<\/strong> at <strong>Uptown Bingo<\/strong>, an establishment located at <strong>2708 Santa Barbara Boulevard, Suite 108, Cape Coral<\/strong>. The operation, named <strong>Operation Going Downtown<\/strong> and announced on <strong>August 17, 2026<\/strong>, was carried out alongside the <strong>Cape Coral Police Department<\/strong> after authorities identified electronic devices being presented as bingo machines despite meeting, according to regulators, the legal definition of prohibited slot machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/mve-ads\/?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/ADS-MVE.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16352\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/ADS-MVE.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/ADS-MVE-300x250.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The enforcement action targets a model Florida authority have been pursuing more aggressively throughout <strong>2026<\/strong>, businesses using terms such as <strong>\u201cbingo\u201d<\/strong> or <strong>\u201cinstant bingo\u201d<\/strong> to give an appearance of legality to electronic machines based on unpredictable outcomes and offering prizes or monetary value. State law, particularly <strong>Chapter 849<\/strong> and Sections <strong>849.15, 849.16 and 849.0931 of the Florida Statutes<\/strong>, allows certain forms of traditional bingo but does not make a slot machine legal simply because it uses bingo terminology or themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"749\" height=\"488\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18159\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots2.png 749w, https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots2-300x195.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 749px) 100vw, 749px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Anthony Sizemore<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The FGCC has been chaired by <strong>Julie Brown<\/strong> since <strong>January 2026<\/strong>. <strong>Tina Repp<\/strong> serves as vice chair, while <strong>Alana Zimmer<\/strong> has served as <strong>executive director since October 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"737\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18160\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots3.png 737w, https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots3-300x173.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 737px) 100vw, 737px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commissioner <strong>Peter Cuderman<\/strong>, cited by the agency in connection with the case, warned about the use of bingo concepts to present illegal slots as authorized gaming products. The commission also includes <strong>John Michael D\u2019Aquila<\/strong> and <strong>William Spicola<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"485\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18158\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots.png 750w, https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/florida-cracks-down-on-illegal-bingo-and-seizes-60-slots-300x194.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the local level, the operation involved the <strong>Cape Coral Police Department<\/strong>, led by Police Chief <strong>Anthony Sizemore<\/strong>. Authorities did not announce <strong>arrests, individual criminal charges, cash seizures or final penalties<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/landing\/multigame-link\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/multigame-diamod-III-700-eng.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9622\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/multigame-diamod-III-700-eng.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/multigame-diamod-III-700-eng-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mundovideo.com.co\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/multigame-diamod-III-700-eng-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Florida limits legal slot machines to <strong>eight authorized facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties<\/strong>, in addition to properties operated by the <strong>Seminole Tribe of Florida<\/strong> under its tribal gaming framework. State law allows penalties of up to <strong>US$10,000 per illegally possessed machine<\/strong>, placing the theoretical administrative exposure for the <strong>60 devices at up to US$600,000<\/strong>, although no such penalty has been imposed in this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) intensified its crackdown on illegal gambling with the seizure of 60 slot machines at Uptown Bingo, an establishment located at 2708 Santa Barbara Boulevard, Suite 108, Cape Coral.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18158,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1458,57,305,15,11,254],"class_list":["post-18157","america","type-america","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sin-categoria","tag-america","tag-casinos","tag-florida","tag-gambling","tag-illegal-gambling","tag-slot-machines","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - 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