Hernando deputies close illegal Internet cafes, boosting business at legal one

SPRING HILL — Senior citizens flock to Spinners Sweepstakes Cafe in a strip mall off U.S. 19.They drink coffee and eat Fig Newtons. Sometimes the only sound is the clicking of mouses as guests play the slot machine-style computer games.They come even though it's fake money, and even though there's nothing to win."It's a place to gather in the afternoon for seniors," said Betty Burns, 86, of Spring Hill, mouse in hand. "It's social."At least a half-dozen other Internet cafes in Hernando County offer computer slot games. But at least two of them have offered payouts to customers, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, which closed them this month after conducting an undercover operation.Spinners has not paid players since the practice was outlawed in Florida three years ago, said owner Terry Kasberg, and his business has taken a hit because of the competition."I'm literally going out of business because these places are doing something illegal," he said. "Either allow me to do it, or shut them the hell down."Kasberg said he complained to the Sheriff's Office for nearly a year and kept receiving the same answer: "We're looking into it."The games look like slot machines on a computer screen, and function nearly the same way.Players buy game entries and use them to wager. Then they click a button that sets the slots into motion. Players win or lose points based on which icons the slots randomly land on.The games become illegal when the points are redeemed for cash or other items of value.Internet cafe owners call these games "sweepstakes." But Assistant State Attorney Mark Simpson said they're just slot machines.A sweepstakes, Simpson said, requires participants to buy something else, and an entry into the sweepstakes comes with the purchase. An example, he said, is the Monopoly stickers that sometimes come with McDonald's food."It's done directly in the sale of consumer products," he said.The product Internet cafes claim to sell, Simpson said, is Internet time, and then the slot entries come as the sweepstakes."Their product is just completely and totally bogus," Simpson said. He said customers don't go into those businesses to use the Internet; they do it to play the games."It's a facade," Simpson said. "It's a rouse."On July 7, deputies shut down the two Spring Hill establishments, Safari Internet Cafe and the Cave, that were offering rewards, according to investigators. Deputies seized more than 60 computers from each location and arrested the owner of the two cafes, Genevieve Digiovanni, on charges of keeping a gambling house, playing games of chance and possession of slot machines.Digiovanni, 77, of Spring Hill could face prison time, though Simpson said she is more likely to be placed on probation. Digiovanni could not be reached for comment.Digiovanni's arrest report documented how an undercover deputy previously visited the Cave, provided an employee with money and played the slot-style games. Afterward, the report said, an employee told the deputy the money could be exchanged for currency.When deputies shut down the Cave on July 7, an employee said the business had been allowing customers to redeem their game awards for cash for the past six weeks, according to the arrest report. Prior to that, the employee said, the business offered gift cards equivalent to the customers' rewards.Even offering gift cards is illegal, Simpson said."Obviously a gift card has value, just like having cash," he said.It was unclear if Kasberg's complaints led to the busts. The Hernando County Sheriff's Office declined to comment, citing the open cases. Since then, though, he has had more people through his doors, Kasberg said.Simpson issued a warning to other businesses in the industry."If a place is open and it is conducting business like the Cave or Safari, then they have to understand they are operating at their peril," he said. "If there are other businesses out there, your turn's coming. We just haven't gotten to you." Contact Josh Solomon at (813) 909-4613 or jsolomon@tampabay.com. Follow @josh_solomon15.

Hernando deputies close illegal Internet cafes, boosting business at legal one

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