“What’s a Hot Spot?” I ask a West Virginian. The question doesn’t immediately make sense. Am I asking where to go out for a good time in Morgantown? Nope. Is it a technical question regarding Wi-Fi? I don’t think so. “Those signs,” I expand, “those red and yellow signs that say ‘Hot Spot’ on businesses that look like bars.” Finally, an answer, “Oh, those are bars with slot machines.”
The Hot Spots of West Virginia are, by definition, drinking establishments. They are businesses operating as limited video lottery (LVL) licensed retailers. In more simple terms, they have slot machines. It is a legal curiosity that the state also requires that these establishments have some sort of license to sell alcohol, whether it be beer, wine, or liquor. Then again, there is a broader relationship between alcohol and gambling outside of West Virginia.
LVL retailers fan out across the state, serving the demand for gambling in communities from Wheeling to Charleston, from Morgantown to Beckley. For some reason, a majority of these businesses have all decided to call themselves Hot Spots–a term which has become so commonplace in the state, that most of the West Virginians I spoke with had never second-guessed it. Not only that, but each of these Hot Spots invariably uses a similar sign. They post up vinyl banners with big red block letters on bright yellow backgrounds–like ketchup and french fries–reading “Hot Spot.”
This strange convergence on a new name, one which the LVL retailers arrived at organically and collectively, is an interesting story in the development of a kind of drinking space in the Mountain State. Gambling at large, it seems, is not contingent upon drinking alcohol, so why must such establishments sell it? More importantly, where did the name Hot Spot come from? To answer these questions, I took off my hat and sunglasses, looked up at the camera, and rang the doorbell outside of the Hot Spots themselves.
The Hot Spots of West Virginia are fairly secure. Customers must be buzzed in after the LVL worker inside sees their face on a camera at the doorway. They can refuse to admit anyone that seems suspicious, and most prohibit backpacks. I was admitted with my backpack to all but one Hot Spot, but when I arrived at the West Virginia State Lottery Headquarters in Charleston with some questions, they sent me the head of building security. Gambling, apparently, is tightly guarded.
After over a century of illegal, underground gambling, the state of West Virginia amended their constitution to allow for a state lottery in 1984.
Limited video lottery, the product Hot Spots carry, began in 1994 when the greyhound and horse racing tracks in the state became licensed to offer video gambling machines alongside their main attraction. This paved the way for a 2001 bill called the “Limited Video Lottery Act.” With this legislation, the state permitted video lottery machines in, what it termed, “adult environments.” Up to 9,000 machines could operate across the state.
The “adult environments” stipulation of the law is the ostensible reason that LVL retailers must sell alcohol. Any establishment looking to bring in video gambling machines must already have a Class “A” Private Club or Class “A” Nonintoxicating Beer (Tavern) license from the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration (ABCA.) Moreover, the ABCA has full rights to investigate any LVL retailer in the state.
Simultaneously, the 2001 LVL Act got rid of the kinds of slot machines that bar owners had been installing in their establishments without regulation, sometimes termed “gray machines.” One Hot Spot employee in Morgantown described the shift to me, “Growing up, the bars I went to had machines, but I never played them until the Hot Spots opened.” Once the state began to regulate the space, trust increased that the player could actually win. Otherwise, bar owners could set the odds as they pleased.
As it currently stands, the state is firmly in control of each and every one of the LVL machines that operate across the state. The “brain box” or “logic area” of these machines, which fixes the odds of winning, can only be opened by a licensed technician under the supervision of a state Security Investigator. Opening those boxes triggers a switch so Charleston knows if any changes have been made. Tampering is dealt with harshly.
Strict, sure, but the story of gambling in West Virginia is one of increasingly liberal policies. Since the 1984 law that established the lottery, the state has seemingly no appetite for slowing down the gambling industry.
At first, in 2001, an LVL retail location could only operate five machines. That cap then expanded to seven machines. In 2021, West Virginia had 7,513 video lottery machines–one for every 240 West Virginians. That number will only grow, as the state now permits 10 machines per location.
The law also limits an individual to owning two hotspots. But, it seems that a franchise business model has begun to circumvent this limitation. Larger Hot Spot chains do exist.
Why is West Virginia so keen to push gambling? As US Gaming Review writes, “Despite its conservative image, West Virginia is known for its ambitious gambling projects.”
One Hot Spot gambler I spoke with frames it as “competing with out of state casinos.” West Virginia would prefer to keep gambling dollars out of the casino in Pittsburgh, nevermind Las Vegas. He tells me that the Hot Spots “around here are just convenient. You might be waiting on someone and you can just play for $20 or $40.”
The consumer perspective is important, but so is the financial motivation. In the first eight months of the fiscal year for 2022, LVLs made $320 million in revenue for the state. This segment of the gambling sector is by far the most lucrative. It seems the Hot Spots are a cash cow for the state government.
As the state cedes more and more leeway to the gaming industry (now allowing online gaming, as well,) Hot Spots are running up against their second main regulator after the West Virginia Lottery Commission, the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration. The rules for operating a drinking establishment push liberal gambling policies even further.
At one time, a Hot Spot operator explains, no two LVL retailers could be closer than 300 feet apart. That distance has now been reduced to only 150 feet, which is the ABCA’s standard for measurement in determining eligibility for liquor licenses. Although those regulations do dictate that these licensed establishments “must be at least 300 feet from a church, school, daycare center or the perimeter of a public park.” Children, at least, will not find it too convenient to drink a beer at the slots.
In addition to decreasing distance requirements, ABCA regulations are making Hot Spots available at more times of the day. In 2016, brunch came to West Virginia! Counties around the state petitioned to change regulations around serving liquor on Sundays. When they pushed the liquor hours from 1 PM to 10 AM, LVL machines were then able to operate at earlier hours. At the time, the acting Lottery Director stated that this could result in a 1-2 % increase in revenue.
In 2021, the State Legislature passed House Bill 2025, allowing alcohol sales as early as 6 AM. The Lottery Commission synchronized its hours with the ABCA again. Some Hot Spots now serve breakfast alongside their video gambling offerings. Prepared food, in fact, is also required at Hot Spots, because they serve alcohol.
Not everyone who walks into a Hot Spot is going to buy alcohol, but they always have the option. On top of that, many of these gambling bars offer snacks and sodas free of charge–but the state says that they need to be available to anyone who walks in, even if you never play a single slot. In theory, you could get a free soda at most Hot Spots.
In the first decade of LVL gaming, the market exploded. One gambler recalls, “People were converting all kinds of businesses, houses, even gas stations.” There was a clear demand for the product and existing establishments wanted to add to their offerings. Some bars could just add slots with the new licensing system.
The gambler tells me. “Back then they had a minimum of 10,000 cash on hand per machine.” Five machines? $50,000 cash! The state required that this kind of cash was readily available because the establishments had to make good on any jackpots a player might hit. The problem was that armed robbery followed.
Back around 2010, Hot Spots were continually the subject of robberies. A January 2011 story reported that Monongalia County experienced 10 LVL robberies within a six month period. At the time, MCT Regional News spoke with the county sheriff who indicated that, “The robberies at hot spots here have taken the place of a lot of robberies we used to see at convenience stores. They think they’ll get more money and they think they’ll get away with it.” Other armed robberies occurred in 2009 at Maverick’s Hot Spot and City Perk.
A Hot Spot worker in Morgantown explains how things have changed “They used to get robbed frequently, now money is kept off premise, or they use drop box for cash.” Businesses still need to have enough cash to payout winners, but they don’t need to have it immediately available on premises. Jackpots, too, can be paid with a check–avoiding the dangers of having too much cash on hand.
The same worker says, “Just the other night, one of the machines down the street hit for $38,000. They had to lock the doors for that kind of money.” There is still some concern over security.
Driving around West Virginia, the red and yellow Hot Spot signs are unavoidable. They present such a consistent version of branding for LVL retailers that the Hot Spot becomes a sort of local cultural establishment. It has become a meme signifying to locals that these bars have slot machines. But no one knows where the name came from.
For starters, not every LVL retailer calls itself a Hot Spot. The establishments can choose their own names. One Hot Spot employee informed me that Ellie’s Cafe & Hot Spot had to add the “Hot Spot” to its name because too many people were mistaking it for a normal coffee shop. Some are just called lounges. Others just go by the proprietor’s name, like Tusie’s.
The state has no involvement in providing the name Hot Spot, it only takes away other options. A Lottery Representative guesses that the convergence on one name is related to the restricted access to advertising. “If you drive downtown and you see Sally’s, you might not know exactly what it is, but if you see Sally’s Hot Spot, then you know they have LVL machines inside.” LVL retailers rally around the term because people know what it means without having to be told.
Legislative Rule §179-5-33.4 eliminates words commonly associated with gambling from the names of LVL retailers. The establishments also cannot rely on symbols closely related to gambling like slot machines or playing cards. Presumably, once someone branded their LVL establishment as a Hot Spot, it became recognized. Because a name cannot tell you that gambling occurs there, others found it easier to indicate they were also LVL retailers with the same term. A Hot Spot wave slowly creeped across the state.
I asked another Hot Spot employee where the name came from.“I couldn’t honestly tell you.” He answers. But, a new conjecture emerges. Maybe it has to do with the fact that they had wifi, so that the machines could communicate with the State Lottery Headquarters, where every machine is reset at 3:00 AM on a daily basis. At first, this idea seems a bit funky, but in 2011, Washington D.C. attempted to establish an online gambling platform that was supported by a system of “hot spots” which provided exclusive connection to the gambling website within the District.
The plan fell apart, but the use of “hot spots” for Wi-Fi and gambling could have some credence.
Perhaps, too, Hot Spot just has a good feel to it. The law prevents you from calling your LVL establishment Lucky’s, but Hot Spot might insinuate winning, good luck, or a hot streak. Whatever the reason is that West Virginians have decided to use the name Hot Spot, these slot machine bars are an unavoidable part of every city in the state. As an outsider, it is interesting to see just how many Hot Spots there are, even if the locals don’t notice. You might say that they exist in a sort of blind spot.
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