JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Their hopes of winning big may soon come to a spinning stop.

Jacksonville Greyhound Racing wants local gaming rooms, better known as Internet cafés, to be shut down.

Michael Freed, an attorney for Jacksonville Greyhound Racing, estimated there are more than 100 Internet cafés throughout North Florida, and the cafés offer what they call sweepstakes Internet computer games.

Other people call it illegal gambling.

Law enforcement agencies throughout Florida have been trying to figure out if the computers are really just slot machines.

Freed said there is no question they're slot machines, and they're illegal.

"I think the murkiness is just the façade," Freed said. "What you have are establishments that are pretending to be sweepstakes, but that's not what you have at all. In fact, it's classic style, Las Vegas-style gambling."

On Tuesday, Freed filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jacksonville Greyhound Racing. The suit accuses Allied Veterans of the World of operating illegal gambling businesses throughout the city.

Allied Veterans own several Internet cafés that offer computer sweepstakes contests. The games can reward players hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars. Contestants have to pay to play.

"It looks like a Las Vegas-style casino," Freed said. "You've got a bunch of people at least on the surface spending the last dime that they have because they think they have the chance to win it big."

Kelly Mathis, an attorney with Allied Veterans, disagreed with Freed.

"Allied Veterans complies with the law in every way," Mathis said. "The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has done their investigation. They know what the law is. Sheriff (John) Rutherford is not going to allow illegal activity to happen here in Jacksonville."

When asked if she felt like she was gambling in the Internet café and if the computers look and play like slot machines, Cynthia Morgan, who lost $100 Tuesday at the Internet café on University Boulevard, said, "Yes. It's on the computer, but yes, it is (gambling)."

Cleopatra Bradford added, "You're purchasing Internet time, and you're entered into a sweepstakes. That's what they say. But I am losing my money."