AUTHOR: Jerry "Jet" Whittaker
TITLE: Video poker industry suing state
DATE: 7:58 AM
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BODY:
<p class="mobile-post">The Attorney General and lawmakers are responding to a lawsuit being filed
by the video poker industry. Earlier this year lawmakers approved a law to
phase out video poker by next summer, but attorneys for the industry say the
law is unconstitutional. After years of trying, lawmakers compromised ending
video poker by phasing it out over a year. "So we had laws about how video
poker was supposed to be operated," Rep. Deborah Ross (R-Wake) said. "You
weren't supposed to get more than a certain amount of payout and supposed to
get toy prizes like that and it was being operated instead to pay out large
sums of money and induce people to put more and more money in the machines."
The law now allows three machines per store. On October 1, that number drops
to two. On March 1, 2007, it drops to one, and then a complete ban next
July. "I am confident the law is permissible and constitutional and I hope
the Attorney General defends it well and he says he will and I think it was
an important law to pass to stop the video poker industry," Ross added. But
the video poker industry disagrees. Attorneys say it unfairly puts operators
out of business while the state allows gambling with the lottery and
Cherokee Indian casino. Attorneys for the video poker industry go as far to
say the law is so vague it could make games at places like Chuck E. Cheese's
illegal because it gives out tickets and prizes for those tickets. "It is my
understanding there will be a constitutional challenge to the video poker
law," Attorney General Roy Cooper said. "We intend to defend that challenge.
I personally believe the law is constitutional and not only that it's good
public policy for the people of North Carolina."  There are approximately
10,000 poker machines across the state of North Carolina.</p>
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