Associated Press
DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — Operators of the Center Stage Alabama bingo hall said Wednesday they plan to stay open despite smaller than expected opening weekend crowds and complaints from some customers that the new games are boring.
The facility reopened Friday under its new name and new management. Formerly known as Country Crossing, the facility has about 500 employees and 500 to 600 electronic bingo machines that resemble ordinary household computers and two restaurants.
Country Crossing closed in 2010 during a state crackdown on electronic bingo operations. The reopening comes with the original developer of Country Crossing, Ronnie Gilley, testifying for the prosecution in the trial of nine people accused in a scheme to buy and sell votes for gambling legislation at the Alabama Statehouse.
Gilley has pleaded guilty to bribery and is no longer involved with the business. Country Crossing closed just weeks after it opened under the threat of a raid by a state anti-gambling task force.
The attorney general's office says Center Stage Alabama can only offer traditional bingo games.
Operations manager Mike Kneuer and CEO Jeff Rubin said Wednesday that the facility is being run by new management. Kneuer on Wednesday gave $32,000 to the Kiwanis Club from profits made over the opening weekend, which included the bingo operation, a concert by rock group Blackberry Smoke and a car show. State law requires profits from bingo operations to be given to charity.
The Alabama Attorney General's Office has not told operators whether the new machines would be considered legal.
Frank Wendt, president of the Houston County Economic Development Association, which is managing the bingo games, said he believes the new games will be considered legal by Alabama courts.
"It's probably the most conservative approach we could have taken," Wendt said. The bingo hall consists of touch-screen computer monitors set up on long tables. Each machine has a bingo card on it and numbers are fed one at a time into the machine. The customers use the numbers to form as many as 800 winning patterns and win cash prizes. Operators said the largest prize won over the weekend was $1,100.
The machines do not contain the bells and whistles that often go off for winners at traditional casinos. But Rubin said the bells and whistles may be added later.
"We hope over time the people will adapt to these machines," Wendt said Wednesday. "We know this is the first run and that changes will have to be made to make it more enjoyable," Wendt said. He said attendance at the bingo center ranged from 2,000 to 4,000 over the weekend and that about 10,000 people were on the property on the Fourth of July for a concert by the southern rock group Blackberry Smoke and a car show.
The attorney general's office did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for a comment concerning the bingo development.
But Wendt said he felt like the new machines "were in full compliance with the law."
To help customers get used to the new bingo machines, operators set up a "bingo school" at the front of the bingo hall, where customers could play a few games for free and get instructions from staff members.
Over the weekend some customers had complained the machines lacked the excitement and payoff of traditional electronic bingo machines. But customers seemed to be getting used to the new games Wednesday.
"So far I've won a little bit and lost a lot," said 61-year-old Myra Littlefield of Barbour County, who was smiling as she played one of the machines. "This is relaxing and enjoyable to me. It takes a lot of things off your mind."
Terra Hutto, 30, of Dothan, said she was having fun trying out the new machines and didn't feel like she was doing anything wrong.
"You see the big smile on my face. This is fun. It's not like I'm spending the rent money or anything," Hutto said.
The facility reopened Friday under its new name and new management. Formerly known as Country Crossing, the facility has about 500 employees and 500 to 600 electronic bingo machines that resemble ordinary household computers and two restaurants.
Country Crossing closed in 2010 during a state crackdown on electronic bingo operations. The reopening comes with the original developer of Country Crossing, Ronnie Gilley, testifying for the prosecution in the trial of nine people accused in a scheme to buy and sell votes for gambling legislation at the Alabama Statehouse.
Gilley has pleaded guilty to bribery and is no longer involved with the business. Country Crossing closed just weeks after it opened under the threat of a raid by a state anti-gambling task force.
The attorney general's office says Center Stage Alabama can only offer traditional bingo games.
Operations manager Mike Kneuer and CEO Jeff Rubin said Wednesday that the facility is being run by new management. Kneuer on Wednesday gave $32,000 to the Kiwanis Club from profits made over the opening weekend, which included the bingo operation, a concert by rock group Blackberry Smoke and a car show. State law requires profits from bingo operations to be given to charity.
The Alabama Attorney General's Office has not told operators whether the new machines would be considered legal.
Frank Wendt, president of the Houston County Economic Development Association, which is managing the bingo games, said he believes the new games will be considered legal by Alabama courts.
"It's probably the most conservative approach we could have taken," Wendt said. The bingo hall consists of touch-screen computer monitors set up on long tables. Each machine has a bingo card on it and numbers are fed one at a time into the machine. The customers use the numbers to form as many as 800 winning patterns and win cash prizes. Operators said the largest prize won over the weekend was $1,100.
The machines do not contain the bells and whistles that often go off for winners at traditional casinos. But Rubin said the bells and whistles may be added later.
"We hope over time the people will adapt to these machines," Wendt said Wednesday. "We know this is the first run and that changes will have to be made to make it more enjoyable," Wendt said. He said attendance at the bingo center ranged from 2,000 to 4,000 over the weekend and that about 10,000 people were on the property on the Fourth of July for a concert by the southern rock group Blackberry Smoke and a car show.
The attorney general's office did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for a comment concerning the bingo development.
But Wendt said he felt like the new machines "were in full compliance with the law."
To help customers get used to the new bingo machines, operators set up a "bingo school" at the front of the bingo hall, where customers could play a few games for free and get instructions from staff members.
Over the weekend some customers had complained the machines lacked the excitement and payoff of traditional electronic bingo machines. But customers seemed to be getting used to the new games Wednesday.
"So far I've won a little bit and lost a lot," said 61-year-old Myra Littlefield of Barbour County, who was smiling as she played one of the machines. "This is relaxing and enjoyable to me. It takes a lot of things off your mind."
Terra Hutto, 30, of Dothan, said she was having fun trying out the new machines and didn't feel like she was doing anything wrong.
"You see the big smile on my face. This is fun. It's not like I'm spending the rent money or anything," Hutto said.
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