gaming foodservice founded oregon 1991 founder craig estey number of locations 175 website www.dottys.com a dotty s taverns in pahrump nevada dotty s is a chain of slot machine parlors with about 175 locations in nevada oregon and montana and another 150 locations planned in illinois . 1 the business model is controversial with sites offering minimal food and beverage choices with a heavy focus on gambling . 2 the chain caters to women aged 35 and older with a clean well lit atmosphere meant to invoke your grandmother s kitchen . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 oregon 1.2 nevada 1.3 illinois 2 references 3 external links history edit oregon edit the chain was founded in oregon in 1991 by craig estey whose family owned a major vending machine and food distribution service . 3 the oregon legislature that year had authorized video poker machines to be installed in bars and taverns under the aegis of the oregon lottery . 3 the first poker machines began operation in march 1992 4 and by the next month five dotty s delis were open . 5 the oregon state police responsible for background checks on lottery retailers objected to licensing the delis arguing that they were not the type of business intended by the legislature to have video poker but its concerns were overruled by the lottery s director jim davey . 5 in late 1993 when dotty s sought to open its sixteenth outlet davey s successor dan simmons sought an opinion from the attorney general as to whether he could deny the license on the basis that dotty s was primarily a gambling business . 5 a rule was instituted requiring a business to be at least a year old before becoming a lottery retailer but estey sued the state and was granted a waiver from this new requirement . 3 another rule was enacted requiring retailers to earn no more than two thirds of their total income from the lottery and a 1997 audit found that 21 of the 22 dotty s outlets were in violation . 6 as of 2005 dotty s had 26 locations in oregon and earned 6.4 million in lottery commissions . 7 in 2006 estey came under investigation by the lottery for alleged incidents of domestic violence against his wife and for lying to nevada gaming regulators about the incidents . 8 9 10 11 faced with the threat of losing dotty s lottery retailer contract 10 12 13 estey was forced to sell dotty s locations in oregon to a group of investors from south dakota including dan fischer and marwin hofer at a sales price reportedly higher than 15 million . 14 the new owners took possession in march 2007 with the lottery itself agreeing to operate the stores on a temporary basis . 15 nevada edit estey made his move into nevada in 1995 gaining approval from the nevada gaming commission for six dotty s bars built along the model of the oregon chain . 16 by 2002 there were eight dotty s locations in the state and the chain was pushing into northern nevada with three planned locations in reno and carson city . 17 opposition to dotty s arose in 2010 18 led by locals casino operators station casinos and boyd gaming . 19 most dotty s locations operate under a restricted gaming license allowing up to 15 slot machines in a business such as a bar or convenience store where gaming is incidental to the main business . 18 opponents argued that dotty s violated this restriction with gaming accounting for more than 90 percent of revenue at some locations . 18 dotty s opponents were successful in april 2011 convincing the clark county commission to adopt rules that taverns with slot machines must have at least 2 500 square feet of space at least eight bar top slot machines and a kitchen operating at least 12 hours a day none of which would be satisfied by the typical dotty s location . 20 similar restrictions were adopted months later at a statewide level by the gaming commission . 21 by mid 2013 dotty s was close to opening new locations with bar and restaurant facilities to comply with the stricter regulations with the total number of locations in nevada set to grow to 97 . 22 in august 2013 dotty s agreed to acquire the hacienda hotel and casino near boulder city its first full hotel casino . 23 in july 2014 dotty s agreed to buy the river palms in laughlin . 24 illinois edit illinois began video gambling operations in october 2012 with bars allowed to install as many as five slot machines . 25 dotty s soon made its move into the state announcing plans to open 150 dotty s cafes mostly in strip malls in the suburbs of chicago . 1 references edit a b alison burdo may 23 2013 . chain of homey gambling cafes makes big suburban push . crain s chicago business . retrieved 2013 09 18 . howard stutz for the las vegas review journal july 26 2014 . dotty s taverns are simply complex a b c d steve mayes july 21 1996 . a sure hand . the oregonian . via newsbank subscription required hill gail kinsey march 24 1992 . video poker comes on line . the oregonian . portland via newsbank . retrieved 2012 06 06 . subscription required a b c jim kadera november 12 1993 . lottery liquor commissions take hard look at dotty s delis . the oregonian . via newsbank subscription required steve suo february 12 1998 . lottery says dotty s delis take too big a bite . the oregonian . via newsbank subscription required steve duin february 28 2006 . lying in nevada laying low in oregon . the oregonian . via newsbank subscription required steve duin december 17 2006 . oregon lottery scratches dotty s delis owner . the oregonian . via newsbank subscription required steve duin for the oregonian . january 02 2007 yes ; estey no a b will evans for national public radio and the center for investigative reporting . oct 31 2008 rightchange gets money from controversial businessman john l. smith for the las vegas review journal . march 30 2011 . dotty s seems to be grandmothered in able to ignore the rules letter from oregon lottery to r craig estey december 13 2006 linked from npr article already cited and mirrored article at cir website oregon lottery tells chain owner to sell or lose state contract . associated press news service . january 4 2007 . via newsbank subscription required steve duin march 1 2007 . craig estey exits with wallet bulging . the oregonian . via newsbank subscription required one of largest lottery retailers in state under new ownership . eugene register guard . ap . march 7 2007 . sean whaley december 22 1995 . station casinos inc. s brewery approved . las vegas review journal . via factiva subscription required nevada regulators may revise post time bets for horse races . associated press newswires . may 16 2002 . via factiva subscription required a b c howard stutz december 17 2010 . dotty s a tavern or slot parlor . las vegas review journal . retrieved 2013 09 20 . howard stutz march 6 2011 . too much success catches up to dotty s . las vegas review journal . retrieved 2013 09 20 . howard stutz april 7 2011 . gaming board won t change licensing procedures . las vegas review journal . retrieved 2013 09 20 . howard stutz august 25 2011 . dotty s casino business plan stalled by regulation changes . las vegas review journal . retrieved 2013 09 20 . cy ryan august 8 2013 . dotty s meets new law s requirements gets ok to open two more taverns . las vegas sun . retrieved 2013 09 20 . howard stutz august 2 2013 . tavern operator dotty s to acquire hacienda near boulder city . las vegas review journal . retrieved 2013 09 20 . agreement struck to sell river palms . laughlin nevada times . 2014 07 02 . retrieved 2014 07 06 . erin meyer october 9 2012 . it s official video gambling now legal in illinois . chicago tribune . retrieved 2013 09 20 . external links edit dotty s nevada dotty s cafe illinois retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title dotty % 27s & oldid 743336466 categories hospitality companies of the united statesgambling companies of the united statesrestaurants in oregon1991 establishments in oregoncompanies based in chicagocasinos in illinoishidden categories subscription 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