Inspectors check boardwalks for 'fair play'

NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. - Their collared shirts and leather shoes gave them away: The small group strolling down the boardwalk here yesterday was looking for more than the best saltwater taffy.

Moving in and out of the arcades, body-piercing shops and pizzerias, the state inspectors were trying to make sure visitors get a fair shake during their summer getaways.

It was one of many sweeps along the Jersey Shore in which state and local officials monitor boardwalks for deceptive games of chance, risky food preparation and even weighted scales at fudge and jewelry shops, said David Szuchman, director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the state Attorney General's Office.

Boardwalks at Seaside Heights, Point Pleasant and Atlantic City have been examined since late May, and the inspectors will cover the remainder of the state's resort-area boardwalks as the summer progresses, he said.

A basketball shooting game yesterday passed inspection over the protests of Rob Baughman, a teenager from Northeast Philadelphia.

"Look how hard that is," he said. "It struggles getting in there."

Baughman, clad in a red Temple University T-shirt, grabbed a basketball to prove to inspectors the hoops were rigged. His shots bounced off the back as inspectors, satisfied by the proprietor's tossing a ball through, moved on.

Across the boardwalk, inspectors wrote up one violation when the owner of Ed's Funcade couldn't find the key to one of his crane games.

Inspectors try the crane games, the most complained-about toy in a very informal boardwalk survey, by testing whether the metal jaws have enough tension and accuracy to hold a prize once in a dozen tries, said Scott Jenkins, the supervisor of investigations for the legalized games of chance control commission at the Attorney General's Office.

"We don't play the game because the game actually requires some skill," Jenkins said.

Failure to find a game's key, along with other violations such as deceptive practices, can bring fines of $250 to $500.

The arcade's owner, Ed Pohlman, said "97 percent of the businesses are fair."

"You can't make it by ripping people off," he said.

Down the boardwalk at Bobby Dee's Casino, manager Steven DiPeso said that while his crane games showed their prizes clearly and paid out often, he didn't think all his neighboring arcades did the same.

The trend from plush prizes to electronic goods has changed some operators' attitudes during the 12 years he has worked on the boardwalk, DiPeso said.

"Now it's expensive stuff," he said. "With that, everyone's hesitant to pay out."

Over by the carousels on Morey's Pier, George and June Gerhart won a basketball from a quarter-tossing game. They had traveled from the Poconos with their wetsuit-clad sons, George, 8, and Dominic, 7, and were looking for games they could win.

"I grew up around here," June Gerhart said. "I think a lot [of games] are unfair. You have to pick and choose what you play."

The game's operator, Mike Horant, said inspections can only benefit owners of honest games.

"The pier is so straight they could come out every day," Horant said. "We wouldn't care."

The day's inspections yielded nine gaming violations at 15 locations examined, Jenkins said. The violations included failing to post rules clearly, hindering inspections and offering obscene prizes (a violent DVD).

Inspectors went through five food vendors and found 20 health violations, and the Office of Consumer Protection found 3,417 products without a clear price at 17 locations, said Joseph Pilaia, chief of investigations for consumer protection. No weighted scales were found.

Inspectors confiscated 63 yo-yo waterballs, a stretchy toy found by a federal commission at risk of strangling young children. More than 900 of the toys, which are illegal to sell in the state, have been confiscated in New Jersey this year.