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Video poker may die in North Carolina
The lottery will likely run the video poker business out of North Carolina, Gov. Mike Easley said on Tuesday.
"I think you're going to find that the lottery will pretty much do away with the video poker industry", Easley said. "I think it's likely you're going to see all the retailers opt for the lottery and you're also going to see consumers opt for the lottery. And I think you're going to see the video poker industry is going to migrate elsewhere". The governor made his comments answering questions prompted by the lottery's rocky start during a session with reporters.
Easley stopped short of calling on the Lottery Commission, which will set rules for the state game, to prohibit lottery sales in businesses that have video poker machines.
"The one reason I'm hesitant to say absolutely yes is that I have not thought it through", Easley said. One potential problem with the state's forcing the issue, he said, would be that some stores that want to sell lottery tickets might have long-term leases on poker machines that they cannot break.
"I would expect that if there is an opportunity to put the lottery in and video poker out, they (the lottery commissioners) are going to seize that and I don't think that would be necessarily a bad thing and I think 100 sheriffs in this state would be very grateful".
Easley was referring to a resolution by the N.C. Sheriff's Association that called on the General Assembly to outlaw video poker.
Video poker has been one of the few legal forms of gambling in North Carolina for years, and video poker machines are often housed in the same convenience stores and gas stations that will be prime outlets for lottery tickets.
Under N.C. law, poker machines can pay no more than $10 in winnings. But numerous businesses have been charged with operating the machines illegally, often because they are offering prizes above the legal limit.
Adding to law enforcement concerns, gambling addiction experts say that video poker can be habit-forming for some personality types.
Representatives of the N.C. Amusement Machines Association said that their leaders were unavailable to comment on Easley's remarks Tuesday afternoon. However, industry officials have argued that those who operate outside the law are rare and that the lottery and video poker can coexist.
Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes said problems with video poker have subsided since the state Alcohol Law Enforcement agency took on oversight of the business.
Although it may make life easier for sheriffs -- and maybe some store owners -- if the lottery displaced video poker, Barnes said the two were unrelated. And he said the lottery would present its own problems for local law enforcement and other agencies.
"The fruit from this tree is going to be the guy who goes out and spends all his money on lottery tickets and can't bring milk back to the house, things like that", Barnes said.
Although the lottery is months away from selling its first ticket, it has already been rocked by a series of problems. The worst revolves around a now-resigned lottery commissioner and lobbyist who failed to disclose the extent of their relationship with Scientific Games, one of the best known companies that sell lottery equipment and services to states.
Easley used Tuesday's news conference to express support for the remaining lottery commissioners and to say that he believed the lottery should launch as anticipated, sometime next spring.
"I'm frustrated over one thing and one thing only", said Easley, who has spent the bulk of his time in office lobbying for the state to create a lottery. "That is, there was a commission member who was dishonest".
Easley acknowledges that the questions surrounding that former commissioner, radio station owner and communication consultant Kevin Geddings of Charlotte, had given the lottery and its nine-member commission "a black eye".
After he resigned as commissioner, Scientific Games disclosed that they had paid Geddings this year for consulting work.
But, Easley said, the money state leaders hope to generate with the lottery was critical to following through on plans to improve education. Lottery dollars are destined to fund prekindergarten programs, school construction and college scholarships.
"Anything that frustrates me", Easley said.
The governor also said on Tuesday that he favored creating more stringent ethical requirements for lottery commissioners, saying that they should be required to file sworn financial disclosure statements so that lying on them could be prosecuted as perjury.
Source: BonusGambler.com Editors' Choice
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