Alliance Gaming in dispute with LV bar over alleged service problems

Tuesday, April 17, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

Alliance Gaming Corp. subsidiary United Coin Machine Inc. won a temporary court order to stop L & I Properties Inc. doing business as O'Aces Bar & Grill from removing United Coin's slot machines from the bar at 3003 N. Rainbow Blvd. in Las Vegas.

United Coin, which said it acquired in April 1998 the slot route operations of O'Aces' former gaming operator, SES Gaming Inc., sued the bar and won an order to maintain its gaming devices and a Gamblers Bonus system -- including a bill dispenser allegedly full of United's cash -- until April 20.

United Coin, which said SES Gaming had operated up to 15 video poker machines at the bar, said it seeks an order requiring O'Aces to hold in constructive trust United Coin's share of any revenue from gaming devices at the bar that replaced United Coin's machines.

A hearing on United Coin's motion for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for April 20 in Clark County District Court.

United Coin said O'Aces agreed to allow United Coin to install and operate its Gamblers Bonus System -- which provides various incentives for repeat play to customers -- and to receive a percentage of the sum of all wagers accepted by the system's machines.

The suit said the slot route agreement, which expires in 2013, entitles O'Aces to receive 75 percent of the net win from the gaming machines and United Coin to receive 25 percent of the net win.

But Leonard Shapiro, O'Aces president, disputed United Coin's allegations, saying in court papers he did not agree to the assignment of SES Gaming's slot route's operations at the bar to United Coin primarily because he believes United Coin has the reputation of having the "worst and slowest service in the industry."

Also, SES Gaming had breached its slot route agreement when it failed to supply O'Aces with new equipment, Shapiro said. But he said he agreed to let United Coin operate eight International Game Technology machines and seven of Alliance's Gamblers Bonus games on a month-on-month basis.

But Shapiro said he later gave United Coin a 30-day notice on Feb. 20 to remove its machines from the bar because service problems with United Coin had deteriorated to the point where United Coin gave him the keys to the games and drop boxes -- which he said meant he would often have to get up in the middle of the night to handle problems with the machines or pay jackpots rather than have his customers wait three or four hours for service.

He said he was caught in a robbery early in a morning in May 1998 -- which ended with a bartender being shot and killed -- because he had to come into the bar to handle a service problem since United Coin allegedly took four or five hours to show up for a service call.