Troup County sheriff’s officers seized 45 video poker machines and about $64,000 cash from six stores in LaGrange and Hogansville during simultaneous raids about 1 p.m. Wednesday.

At least 10 arrests were expected today on felony commercial gambling charges, said sheriff’s Capt. William Grizzard.

Grizzard said only merchandise can be used to pay winnings on video poker machines, but the six stores were paying cash.

They were identified as Pony Express on Old Vernon Road, Chevron at West Point Road and West Lukken Industrial Drive, Kountry Kitchen diner and game room on West Point Road, Happy Stop at Hamilton and Big Springs roads, and Marathon and Wayne’s Game Room, both on U.S. 29 in Hogansville.

Officers spent about three to six hours at each store Wednesday, counting money and opening the video machines.

Grizzard said 20 poker machines were seized from Kountry Kitchen, seven from Wayne’s Game Room, and a few at each of the other locations.

He said the owners of each business and the employees who paid out the money would be arrested today.

“We’ve been watching people play the machines for several months” Grizzard said, and an undercover agent from Newnan went into the stores last week.

The most the undercover agent was paid was about $60, he said, but the agent saw larger cash pay-outs.

“We’ve had numerous complaints on these stores - complaints that husbands and wives are using their paychecks to gamble with, even people referring to LaGrange as being a little gambling casino because of this,” Grizzard said.

He said a woman called the sheriff’s office to complain about her son and daughter gambling with money that should have been used to take care of their children.

“We’ve had men call up saying their wives were spending their retirement because of their addiction to gambling,” he said.

He said there’s no regulations on the machines and the owners can make them pay or not pay whenever they want.

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.