State May Scratch Club From Lottery
As a dancer gyrated in the reflected red glow of the Chee Chee Club, customer John Warner hunched over the bar, quarter in hand, to scratch for his fortune.
Another lottery ticket didn’t pay off. But what the heck, it was only a buck, shrugged the 39-year-old massage therapist as he glanced at a thin brunette in black brassiere and high-cut red briefs doing the splits while her jukebox accompanist sang: “That ain’t workin’; that’s the way you do it; money for nothin’ and the chicks for free.”
Lottery tickets, like the chewing gum, potato chips and breath mints that Chee Chee Club owner Patrick Moorehead sells, are merely “a service to my customers,” he says.
But the club on Santa Ana’s Harbor Boulevard that gained attention as one of the lottery’s earliest and most enthusiastic promoters may soon be barred from selling tickets because state officials have grown concerned that the Chee Chee Club’s bevy of “exotic entertainers” may tarnish the image of the government-run gambling operation.
Indignant Response
A state official said Wednesday that the Chee Chee Club is one of “15 or 20” outlets being recommended for cancellation of lottery ticket sales.
The news caught Moorehead, his employees and customers by surprise and prompted an indignant retort.
“Churches do bingo, and that’s gambling; the Elks do bingo,” fumed Moorehead, a retired firefighter from the city of Vernon now living in north Long Beach.
“If, in fact, we are being considered as one to be taken off the lottery franchise list, I’ll be interested to know how they’re going to justify that.”
Speculating that lottery officials “probably don’t want to have the public feel the lottery is associated with questionable businesses,” Moorehead said he found it “amusing” that franchises are given to stores accepting food stamps.
Warner, the massage therapist and sometime wallpaper hanger from San Diego, was clearly puzzled at word that the club’s lottery franchise might be canceled.
No Morals Attached
“I don’t see where you can attach any morals to a lottery ticket,” he said. “That’s crazy.”
Mike Guerrero, 34, manager of a retail store in Orange, suggested that the state might be displaying prejudice and unfairness if it revokes the Chee Chee Club’s lottery franchise.
“That’s getting a little bit on the prejudiced side, refining your rules when it (the lottery) is supposed to be open to anyone,” Guerrero said.
On the other hand, if bartender Bob Young were no longer able to sell the $1 green, silver and gold tickets, Guerrero said he wouldn’t miss them. “I don’t buy ‘em that much anyway.”
Lottery tickets went like hotcakes at the Chee Chee Club when they first went on sale in early October. Moorehead said 2,500 were sold in the first three days.
Now, the almost exclusively male clientele buys an average of 150 to 200 a day--not enough to be a moneymaker for the club, but a little extra to attract a customer’s interest, like the four pool tables, a large video screen and assorted munchies.
“There’s no profit in it. But I’m not complaining because I use it as a service to customers and promotion,” the owner said.
When asked about the recommended cancellation, Moorehead said: “It’s all news to me. To the best of my knowledge no one has said anything like that to us.”
Moorehead tried unsuccessfully Wednesday to reach regional lottery director James Braxton in Anaheim for confirmation.
“If this is true, I would not only not be pleased, but I would probably be inclined to discuss this with them further,” Moorehead said.
Moorehead took strong exception to characterizations of his club as a “girlie joint” or a “topless club.” His dancer/hostesses, he insisted, are Las Vegas-style “entertainers” who never dance topless.
“From the beginning, we’ve done everything we can to keep our club a cut above what people would consider a girlie club. . . . So we’re not doing anything the state would have reason to be concerned about,” he said.
Appropriate Businesses
But even X-rated businesses such as topless clubs should not be excluded from lottery franchises, he said. In fact, the adults-only businesses are perhaps the most appropriate places to sell the tickets, he argued.
“I think the primary thing the state should be concerned with is the sale of lottery tickets,” Moorehead grumbled. “The nature of gambling is considered morally questionable anyhow. . . .
“Gambling has always been offered primarily to adults. So I think any bar or adult bookstore is probably the most likely place to sell them. Now I see them sell lottery tickets at places where minors can buy them. By law, you can’t get into my place unless you’re 21 or over, so it’s probably one of the safest places.”
Although Moorehead was determined to get a full explanation, he was doubtful he could challenge or overturn any revocation.
“I don’t believe I have any legal recourse because the franchises were all provisional at the start, pending some kind of evaluation,” Moorehead said.
“With that kind of language in the contract they could arbitrarily chop off anybody they wanted to, I guess. . . . But I strongly believe if they were aware of what kind of business we are, they wouldn’t do that.”
‘Cleanest Bar Around’
From the customers’ perspective, the hip-swiveling hostesses, clad mostly in revealing one-piece swimsuits, provide some of the tamest entertainment going.
“This is the cleanest bar around,” insisted regular Kevin Guimond, 28, a construction worker from Garden Grove.
“It’s just a beer bar with some nice-looking waitresses. They’re not topless or nothin’, they just dance,” Guimond said, gesturing with a hand balancing a pitcher of beer toward a woman on stage.
“I just don’t see anything wrong with it. I’m sure there’s times people are too drunk and spend money they shouldn’t on lottery tickets. . . . But I think it’s far worse to sell ‘em at a food market where people on welfare buy tickets.”
As far as the entertainers are concerned, lottery tickets are just part of the fun.
“I like the lottery; I like selling tickets to my customers and I like buying ‘em,” said hostess Angel Renard, tugging at the bottom of her purple and pink-striped tank suit. “Besides, I have two kids and it’s good for the schools.”
