They light up U.S. 41 north of the airport with neon promises — flashing 7-7-7 and mounds of gold — on storefronts wrapped in dark tint.
Up and down 14th Street in Bradenton, along the Manatee Avenue corridor and tucked in southern stretches of Sarasota County, places like Diamond City and Spin Fun operate in plain sight.
They call themselves arcades, but there are no claw machines or prizes for kids inside. Instead, these adult playrooms boast illegal slot machines that have eluded law enforcement for years, closing down on one street only to reopen on another.
Despite more than a decade of legislative crackdowns on illegal gambling, a joint investigation between Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald found unlicensed casinos operating out of strip malls and storefronts have continued to proliferate across the region, offering unregulated slots and cash payouts in open defiance of state laws.
