Dave & Buster’s location at the Gateway Center shopping intricate in the Brooklyn borough of Recent York, U.S., Saturday, March 30, 2024.
Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Arcade chain Dave and Buster The plan to allow customers to place bets does not convince everyone.
Software company Lucra Sports announced Tuesday that it is partnering with the entertainment network to allow customers to place bets on arcade games through the Dave & Buster’s app.
But some lawmakers are calling it foul.
Illinois State Representative Daniel Didech, Democrat from Buffalo Grove, submitted the bill on Thursday, which aims to prohibit family entertainment establishments from facilitating betting on amusement games. It also intends to criminalize this activity by amending the Illinois Penal Code. His bill has bipartisan support, and it does supported by more than two dozen other state lawmakers.
“It is inappropriate to allow unregulated gambling on its premises for families to enjoy. These companies simply do not have the ability to oversee gambling activities in a secure and responsible manner,” Didech said in a statement.
Didech, who also serves as chairman of the Illinois House Gaming Committee, said he would be introducing rule changes this session to make clear that such conduct is illegal under Illinois law.
Didech told CNBC he sees many problems with the idea, from a lack of protection for problem gamblers to exposing adolescent people to gambling. He said that while Illinois requires people to be 21 or older to gamble, Lucra’s services are intended for people who are 18 or older.
“Dave & Buster locations have none of these safeguards. They didn’t do even the slightest bit of due diligence,” Didech said.
Customers play a car racing arcade game at Dave & Buster’s Entertainment location.
Tymoteusz Fadek | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Ohio Gaming Control Commission took notice as well.
“The Commission has stern concerns about this proposal, including that it appears to violate Ohio law to facilitate the awarding of illegal skill-based slot machine prizes,” a spokesman for the Ohio Casino Control Commission told CNBC. “We are contacting Dave & Buster’s for additional information.”
Both Lucra Sports – the company that will handle betting on the Dave & Buster’s app – and Dave & Buster’s declined to comment on the backlash.
As sports betting has grown rapidly since it became legal in most of the country, companies are looking to cash in on the gambling craze. The idea behind Dave & Buster’s is to provide customers with a novel form of entertainment, keeping them longer and ultimately spending more money.
Lucra says most bets on its software platform, which allows users to compete for real money in warm contests, average around $10. However, the company has not yet decided on the maximum bet amount for Dave & Buster’s.
Lucra said the deal with Dave & Buster’s is not subject to the same gambling laws or taxes as bookmakers because peer-to-peer betting is considered skill-based. Lucra also stated that it has a wide range of uses responsible game applicable rules, such as self-exclusion or self-restriction options on the platform.
Brett Abarbanel, executive director of the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said she was interested in what safeguards, if any, Dave & Buster’s would implement.
“Regardless of the legal classification of an activity as ‘non-gambling’ or ‘gambling’, it is an activity in which participants risk something of value in exchange for an uncertain outcome. “Therefore, consumer protection measures need to be put in place for gamers, especially when the target audience is skewed towards younger participants,” she said.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the correct date of Illinois Rep. Daniel Didech’s bill filing.
