Speakeasy 54 - Where's My Money?

Cliffnotes:
     - won $720 on spooky spin machine @ Speakeasy 54 on April 13,2012
     - they promised to pay me after D & D Amusements checked machine
     - D & D confirmed it was a legit win
     - Speakeasy 54 has machines removed
     - after repeated attempts to collect, Speakeasy 54 still refuses to pay me


A few weeks ago I sent this to one of the owners of Speakeasy 54 and I'm really not surprised that he didn't bother to respond.

***********************************************************
Speakeasy 54
Joe Benner
7330 Plover Road (Hwy 54)
Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494
715-424-5454
Dear Mr. Benner:
On April 13 2012 I won $720 at Speakeasy 54. While I have been promised payment several times I have not yet received it. Since you are listed as the owner of Speakeasy 54 and you also hold the liquor license, you are responsible for this debt. I have made repeated attempts to collect, but you have not come forward with the money. I am requesting that you make the payment in full by June 13 2012, or make specific arrangements to pay the balance.
I will expect a response to this letter no later than June 8 2012. If this matter is not resolved by the time specified above, I reserve the right to commence legal proceedings to recover the debt without further notice to you and this letter may be tendered in court as evidence of your failure to pay.
*****************************************************************

So now it's been over 2 months since I won the money and they still haven't paid me and it's obvious they have no intentions to do so. I was thinking about taking them to small claims court but I've chosen a different path, for now. I'm going to be sending out letters and calling over a dozen people who are ranking officials within the Wisconsin Tavern League and Wisconsin Amusement & Music Operators to aware them of this situation, and let them deal with these assholes and to also give them a chance to get me my money before I start writing letters to local and state newspapers and politicians.

Almost A Month Later - No Money Yet

It's been almost a month now since I won $720.00 at Speakeasy 54 and I still have NOT been paid ! I called Speakeasy on Saturday April 28, 2012 and talked to a bartender/bouncer who told me the owner would be in later that night and he would give the owner my name and number and have him call me. Do you think I ever got that call ? Hell no. Now I'm a very laid back guy but this is seriously starting to piss me off. It's not even about the money anymore. Yes I want it. But now it's more about just getting the owner of the club to do the right thing. It's pretty fucked up that they were so quick to assume I somehow cheated or scammed the machine when I won and now they're the ones trying to scam and cheat me.

I haven't contacted the Tavern League yet, I'll wait a few more days...

 

Portage County Tavern League

President
Mike Slowinski
Slo's Place
1236 County Rd HH West
Stevens Point, WI 54481-9239
(715) 341-2073

Secretary
Mary Tepp
Post Road Pub
1211 Post Rd
Plover, WI 54467-2632
(715) 340-5625
Treasurer
Kim Krayecki
Kim's Barrel Inn
1001 2nd St
Stevens Point, WI 54481-2630
(715) 498-8341

Speakeasy 54 Owes Me $720

If you ever find yourself at Speakeasy 54 in the Wisconsin Rapids area, please do yourself a favor and don't play the gambling machines. If you feel the urge to stick your dollar bills somewhere, avoid all the bullshit I've gone through the past week trying to collect the $720 Maxi Jackpot I won on the Spooky Spin machine, and only stick your money in the dancers thongs, g-strings or anywhere else they'll let you put it.

On Friday April 13, 2012 a group of 5 friends and I went to Speakeasy 54 for some drinks and entertainment. After enjoying a rotation of the ladies I stepped out to the smoking room where there is 1 of the gambling machines. As I was playing this game and smoking a cigarette, a dancer and a young man both informed me that the particular game I was playing "sucked" and that I would probably have better luck playing the games inside the bar.

So after I was done smoking I took their advice, went back inside and found the Spooky Spin machine. I inserted several dollars and began playing with a 60 cent bet. As I was playing a friend of mine approached me and said he had just lost $20 on this same machine. I quickly burned through my initial investment and decided to insert more money so I could keep playing.

This time I raised my bet to $1.00. When I was down to my last 2 spins the random jackpot screen popped up and when I stopped the reel it landed on the Maxi Jackpot - $718. +/- I can't remember the exact jackpot. I celebrated for a bit with my friend then pulled out my phone and snapped these two pictures. Notice on the top pic that the Maxi Jackpot started over at $500 after I won. I was planning on playing it down to $700 but had a couple small wins that brought me to just over $720 before I decided to just make it an even $720 and cash out. So I went up to the bar and asked the girl bartending how to cash out. She told me to just hit the ticket button and it would print out behind the bar. Once the ticket printed out and the bartender saw how much it was for, she said I'd have to come back the next day to get paid. I asked what time they open, she said 6 o'clock and I told her I'd see her then. We hung out there for about another half hour before we left for my friends cabin near Adams,WI which is about a 45 minute drive. On the way there we decided to stop at The Sportsman where I bought dinner and drinks at a cost of about $100 to share my good fortune with my friends.

On Saturday we arrived back at Speakeasy 54 shortly after they opened. The club was empty except for a female bartender (different one from the night before) and a bouncer. When I said I was here to pick up the money I won they both stared blankly at me. Neither one had a clue what I was talking about. I explained to them, and asked them to call a manager or owner. After a while the bouncer came back and basically accused me of cheating somehow or said that the game may have malfunctioned and it could take a couple weeks to get paid since they'll have to wait for D and D Amusements to come out and run diagnostics on the machine to verify it was a legit win.

WHAT THE FUCK???

So now I'm pissed, my friends are pissed. We just made this 45 min. trip for nothing, the dancers don't even start til 7-7:30pm. I left my name and phone number with the bartender and said I wanted the owner or manager to call me, then we left and went to Jammers. While we were at Jammers we decided to call my friends father who lives in the area, hoping he would have some contact info for the owner of Speakeasy54 . He said he knows one of the owners and he'll try to call him. After a few minutes he calls back and says the owner is going to drop off the money at his business on Monday, then my friends dad will just mail me a personal check since I will be back home in Oshkosh by then.

OK COOL !! 

Well Monday comes and goes without hearing anything. On Tuesday night my friends dad calls me and tells me the owner of Speakeasy54 never dropped the money off and never called, nothing.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

My friends dad said he'd try to get a hold of the owner on Wednesday and let me know. When he called me back on Wed. he had talked to the owner once again and this time the owner told him I wouldn't get paid until D and D Amusements ran diagnostics on the machine. So I called D and D Amusements, explained the situation to them, and they tried telling me this bullshit is standard procedure for getting paid and that he's going to Speakeasy 54  on Friday when they open at 6pm to check the machine and if he confirms the win was legit he'll "recommend" that they pay me.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

Speakeasy 54 Still Owes Me $720

So now it's been 2 weeks since I won $720 at Speakeasy 54 in Wisconsin Rapids,WI and I still don't have the money. I wonder if the dancers have to go through as much bullshit as I've gone through to get paid.

Anyway, so last Friday the guy from D and D Amusements was planning on going to Speakeasy 54 at 6 o'clock when they open to check the machine so I can get paid. He said he'd call me and let me know what he finds out.

Well, he never called me on Friday so I try calling D and D amusements on Saturday but they must not be open on weekends because my calls went straight to voicemail. I finally get a hold of him on Monday morning and he tells me he never even went out to Speakeasy 54. WTF? Apparently at about 4pm on Friday a woman ( Speakeasy 54 Manager? ) called him and told him he didn't have to come out because they realized it was a legit win and they're going to pay me.

Awesome! Show Me The Money!

Monday night I called my friends dad and told him the good news. He said he would call the owner and pick up the money and send it to me. I'm thinking this is finally over and I won't have to deal with this shit or these people ever again.

I get a call from my friends dad on Wednesday morning and right away I can tell by the sound of his voice that he's pissed off. He told me he just got off the phone with one of the owners and the guy blew up at him. Saying shit like if he keeps getting bothered about this I'll never get paid and he's done with those machines and he's got them unplugged and turned around so nobody can play them and he's having them removed.

< RANT >
I really don't understand how any businessman can get upset over something that has the potential to make your business a shitload of money. I know bar owners who make more off those machines than they do from selling alcohol. Damn near every bar or club that I've played those machines at have a separate cash register or money bag solely for paying out winners. These machines favor the house just like at a casino. If you can't make money with them your obviously doing it wrong. In this case not paying a winner for over 2 weeks is doing it wrong. If I would've got paid the night I won or even the following night I would've bought drinks and lap dances for all my friends and I would have even stuck money in one of the other machines since I was feeling lucky. In all honesty I probably would have walked out of there with only half of the $720. </END RANT >


So I called the guy from D and D Amusements and he confirmed that on Thursday he was going to Speakeasy 54 to pull the machines out of there. I asked him to call me and let me know if he hears anything about them paying me.

Thursday afternoon he called and said they are still planning to pay me.

I guess I'll just have to wait some more...

TO BE CONTINUED...