The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "video gambling" ...
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The Casino Kings
The state of South Dakota partners with thousands of bars and restaurants that offer video gambling. The state takes in more than $100 million each year from the games, but basic information about who owns and operates the establishments is hidden from public view by state law. Using liquor license records and business registrations, the newspaper built a backdoor database of owners, officers and financiers that took six months. The reporting revealed a consolidation of licenses by a handful of individuals and partnerships in the state's most lucrative markets.
Tags: video gambling; bars; public records; South Dakota; lottery; money; license
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Medford's Mafia
This is a comprehensive overview of criminal beahvior on the part of former Bunbombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford. The story was supposed to have run on Dec. 12, the day before the sheriff was arrested by federal authorities.
Tags: video poker; gambling; Johnny Harrison; Ronnie "Butch" Davis; Guy Penland; payoff; bribe;
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Unfavorable odds: Illegal gambling machines
This investigation reveals how pervasive illegal video gambling is in Indiana and Kentucky and why it is largely overlooked and unofficially tolerated. The stories also explore the effect such unregulated gambling is having on people's lives. Prosecutors in Indiana cite the long odds of winning any convictions if they try to prosecute the bars and truck stops that own the gambling machines because Indiana has legalized casino gambling. The machines themselves pay out at about 55 to 60 cents per dollar compared with 80 to 93 cents per dollar at regulated, legal casinos.
Tags: gambling; slot machines; video gambling machines; illegal gambling
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Illegal Gambling in Hawaii
This series of stories contains an "undercover video of illegal gambling casinos. Most such casinos have traditionally been confined to the Chinatown area of Honolulu, heavily secured, difficult to penetrate. But they started spreading in recent years to different areas of town, less rigidly operated. In the course of researching the story, we touched base with the police gambling detail. They asked us to hold off ... for two months. We said that's too long and went with the story. Ten days later, cops and the FBI raided several locations."
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Cashing Out
WANE-TV examines problems with illegal use of video gambling machines in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The report reveals numerous breaches of the state law that allows local businesses to have video gambling machines for amusement only. A hidden camera investigation finds that bartenders often hand over pay-outs to the gamblers.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; crime; police; Cherry Masters
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The Hidden Addiction
This series examines the social costs of gambling. For all its profitmaking, the real losers are the gamblers and their families. According to the report, there are 100,000 "gambling addicts" in Oregon which result in financial straights (bankrupticies, bad loans), as well as emotional pressures.
Tags: gambling; video poker; addiction; lottery; Oregon Tribes Committee; Keno; legalized gambling; casino nights; Project Stop
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Babysitters Investigation
Extra investigated the problems faced by traveling families in need of a babysitter. Often, such families are "at the mercy of a babysitter referred to them by hotel concierges or yellow page ads. We set up a sting which resulted in a convicted crook stealing whiskey, wine, drugs and gambling chips on hidden camera. She was subsequently arrested and convicted...."
Tags: TAPE TRANSCRIPT undercover video hidden camera Las Vegas
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Busted Flush
South Carolina's video poker industry is vast, powerful and virtually unregulated. Harper's investigates how the gambling industry brought down the Republican former governor, a video poker opponent, spending more than $3 million in donations to the Democratic candidate and on blatant smear campaigns.
Tags: State Government
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Stacking the Deck
South Carolina has been swamped by gambling because of the lack of regulations and little enforcement of the laws that do exist. the state now has more video poker machines than any other state except New Jersey and Nevada. No state gives the owners of the machines more freedom or taxes them less.
Tags: gambling; state government; casinos
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Seminole Gambling - Trail of Millions
The three-day series set out to follow the money trail of the Seminole Tribe's gambling empire. The Seminoles introduced high-stakes gambling to Indian country in 1979. The reporters investigated why the money wasn't trickling down to tribal members. They found that when the Seminole Dept. of Law Enforcement took control of internal security at the Hollywood bingo hall in 1995, they discovered the same people winning over and over again. When police compared the wins recorded on video to those reported by management, they found large discrepancies. In one three-month period, the company overestimated wins by more than $600,000.
Tags: gambling; native americans; gaming; federal government