Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Chuck E Cheese Gambling

I recently read that Debbie Keller, a real estate agent with two kids ages 3 and 5, is suing the Dallas-based Chuck E Cheese restaurant chain for $5 million because she feels that many of the games intended for children at these locations are actually illegal gambling devices -- like slot machines and roulette wheels.

Last September, I posted "Open Letter To Chuck E Cheese" on this blog AND posted a copy of a video that I made at the Chuck E Cheese Restaurant in Pasadena, Texas. I got NO reply from any representative from this restaurant. I don't know if Ms. Keller will win $5 million, but I do hope this will open some eyes and this problem will be addressed.

Here is a copy of the letter that I wrote:

Dear Mr. Cheese,
I will make this letter brief and to the point. I have been coming to your restaurant for more than 25 years. I first walked into a Chuck E Cheese Restaurant in the early 1980s when my daughter was a toddler. I recently took my granddaughter to your restaurant and was disturbed to see the kiddie slot machines that filled your play area.
These slot machines spit out tickets that can be traded for cheap toys that could be purchased at the Dollar Store for a fraction of the cost of the tokens that children feed into these machines.
I am asking you to replace these slot machines with games that require some degree of concentration and skill. Children do not need to be exposed to gambling at such a young age. We will soon need chapters of Gamblers Anonymous in preschools if children get hooked on these slot machines before they can even read.
I used to give my granddaughter 100 tokens to play the games and participate in the activities in your restaurant. These tokens would keep her entertained for several hours and sometimes there were tokens left at the end of our visit. I recently purchased 265 tokens and almost every token was used in the slot machines. She used all of her tokens in less than an hour! So, I understand that these slot machines are huge money makers for you. I am just asking you to think about what you are doing to the children. They do not understand that these tokens cost real money and that you don't always hit the jackpot in the real world.
Mr. Cheese, please think about the children instead of how much money you can make.
Yours truly,
A Concerned Grandma

I am glad that I am not the only person to notice that there are SLOT MACHINES for children in the Chuck E Cheese Restaurants. Here is the video that I made ~ A picture is worth 5 million words!

Click HERE to view the video.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
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