Rio de Janeiro cracks down on claw machines as illegal games of chance

Jack Aylmer

IN TOY STORY – THE CLAW CALLS THE SHOTS.

BUT IN RIO – POLICE ARE TAKING BACK CONTROL.

AUTHORITIES IN THE BRAZILIAN CITY ARE CRACKING DOWN – CALLING THE JOYSTICK-CONTROLLED MACHINES A PUBLIC ENEMY.

RIO POLICE EXECUTED 16 SEARCH WARRANTS THIS WEEK – TARGETING THE CRANE GAMES.

THEY SAY THESE MACHINES ARE NOT AS INNOCENT AS THEY SEEM. ACCORDING TO POLICE, THEY’RE NOT REALLY GAMES OF SKILL, BUT GAMES OF CHANCE, JUST LIKE SLOT MACHINES. THEREFORE, THEY ARE ILLEGAL UNDER BRAZILIAN LAW.

OFFICERS SEIZED NOT ONLY CLAW MACHINES BUT ALSO LAPTOPS, TABLETS, CELL PHONES, A FIREARM AND EVEN THE PLUSHIES INSIDE. 

THIS ISN’T THE FIRST TIME RIO’S CLAW MACHINES HAVE CAME UNDER SCRUTINY. BACK IN MAY, POLICE SEIZED 80 MACHINES IN A SIMILAR OPERATION. POLICE FOUND THE CLAWS WERE RIGGED TO ONLY GRAB A TOY AFTER A SET NUMBER OF ATTEMPTS, MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO WIN.

RIO POLICE SUSPECT ORGANIZED CRIME MAY BE BEHIND THE OPERATION, AS CRIMINAL GROUPS ALREADY CONTROL OTHER FORMS OF GAMBLING ACROSS THE CITY, INCLUDING ILLEGAL SLOT MACHINES AND A LOCAL LOTTERY KNOWN AS THE ‘ANIMAL GAME’.

HERE IN THE U.S., CLAW MACHINES ARE CONSIDERED TO BE GAMES OF CHANCE AND ARE SPECIFICALLY EXEMPT FROM GAMBLING LAWS, AS LONG AS THEY FOLLOW CERTAIN RULES LAID OUT BY EACH STATE. 

AS RIO AUTHORITIES CONTINUE THEIR INVESTIGATION, IT’S CLEAR THAT EVEN SOMETHING AS SEEMINGLY HARMLESS AS A CLAW MACHINE COULD HAVE A DARKER SIDE.