Police moved in around 3:30 p.m. Thursday to shut down the The Jungle Gym Game room at 9903 Highway 6 just south of Beechnut Street.
It was packed with gamblers, about 50 players playing the 8-liner machines when deputies came through the door.
The machines aren’t illegal, but cash payouts to winners are.
Ft. Bend Sheriff Troy Nehls says the game room has been operating as an illegal casino for months.
“You’re supposed to win crock pots, coffee machines, and we know they’re not doing that. They’re paying out cash and that makes it illegal," Nehls said.
One customer, Robert Foster, said he wasn’t playing for a crock pot, but he also didn't win anything.
"I lost $200 in there. $200, and I didn’t get nothing,” Foster said.
The players were allowed to leave, but the game room’s clerk and security guard were taken to jail.
Police say game rooms that deal solely in cash tend to attract criminals. This one was robbed by armed men last year.
Thursday, deputies confiscated thousands of dollars in cash from the the 8-liner machines, and confiscated the machines themselves.
Deputies said there were eight game rooms who submitted for permits in Fort Bend County and of those eight, six of the game rooms have been busted for running illegally and giving out cash prizes.
Game room bust in Ft Bend Co. Story at 5 on 2. pic.twitter.com/TGiqT4nTx2
— Phil Archer (@KPRC2Phil) January 5, 2017