Atlantic City boardwalk arcades say they’ll play fair too

ATLANTIC CITY » Sevenyear-old Ava Copes stood up against a crane game booth Thursday afternoon studying the Squish toys at Central Pier and moving the claw left and right to press her luck.

To her left, stepfather Dwight Blakney slipped her dollar bills from his wallet to feed the machine.

“We didn’t have anything to do today, so I said, ‘Let’s get in the car and go to Atlantic City,’” said Blakney, 43, of Toms River.

Earlier this week, as part of a state enforcement effort to check boardwalk games for fairness of play, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced 12 establishments in Atlantic City and Seaside Heights were in violation of state consumer protection laws and regulations.

“I’ve lived in New Jersey for 14 years, and I’ve never had a problem,” Blakney said, adding it can be frustrating to put money in machines and not get the desired results. “It’s part of the Boardwalk.”

Investigators inspected eight arcades and 27 amusement games, and five locations were found with alleged violations. Seven of the 25 stores inspected in the two Jersey Shore towns had additional violations, according to the state.

The violations will be presented to the state’s Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission for possible action. The state did not specify which locations had reported violations.

Dave Gorfman, owner at Central Pier, said state inspections haven’t been a problem for his business. He said about five inspectors visited the pier the week after the Fourth of July to check his merchandise, the games, the arcade — anything that outputs tickets or a prize.

He showed inspection slips from May, June and July that indicated no violations were found.

“They went through all the machines, the cranes, the arcade games,” he said. “We take great pride in running games that are fair.”

For example, he said, the cranes have to be able to move toward an item, pick it up and be able to move it one way or the other in the booth. Gorfman said his employees often have to refill and reset the crane machines when new and different items are loaded into it.

But Gorfman said some customers get upset after not winning on the first or second try, and the complaints get to the state. He said he expects inspections to continue throughout the season.

“It’s not abnormal, it’s actually procedural that we’re constantly inspected,” said Gorfman, who has owned the operation with his wife for 22 years.

Kelly Fields, manager at Playcade Arcade farther down the Boardwalk, said the inspectors came in recently and the arcade was “clear.” She said employees tend to check their games on their own to make sure they’re in compliance.

The staff will check to make sure the crane booths aren’t packed too tightly, and that everything is correctly labeled, she said.

“People don’t know what actually goes into it,” she said. “We want to make sure when tourists come out here, they’re going to have a good time and get what they pay for.”

Sharon Franz, a manager at Steel Pier, said Thursday that recent inspections went well.

This past weekend was a big weekend for winners at the arcade and games, she said.

“Winners make happy people,” she said. “We are definitely fair.”

Violations at the arcades included crane machines packed with prizes that were too heavy, booths packed too tightly with prizes, and a boardwalk game where it was impossible to win the top prize with the allotted chances.

Violations at the stores showed merchandise without clearly marked prices and no clear refund policies posted, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Back at Central Pier, Janet Brandon, of Deptford, Gloucester County, said her family doesn’t experience problems at arcades too often. For her 8-year-old son Gary Brandon Jr., it’s normal practice to win at the crane games.

“To say nobody ever wins is not true,” she said.

“I’m just really good at it,” Brandon said, after scoring two prizes.