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RALEIGH — The bill was simple enough. It would have affirmed the legislature’s intent to outlaw video poker in all its forms without making changes to existing law.

In particular, backers of the measure are frustrated that a video poker variant based on a sweepstakes computer system continues to thrive in the state and wanted to send a message to law enforcement and the courts.

“We’re really displeased with the way this law is being circumvented,” said Rep. Ray Rapp, a Mars Hill Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors.

But moments before the measure was to be heard Thursday, a clutch of legislators hurriedly conferred and pulled it from consideration by a House Judiciary committee.

“Some folks had some reservations,” said Rep. Ronnie Sutton, the committee’s chairman. Those reservations, he said, revolved around worry the state could be interfering in an ongoing court case.

According to a flurry of rumors, Judge John O. Craig III, who hears cases in High Point, had rattled the judicial saber and threatened to find legislators in contempt.

“Nothing — not a word from me. I haven’t expressed any opinion on it,” Craig said when asked whether he had communicated with the legislature.

Craig said he and lawyers involved in the sweepstakes-based video poker machine lawsuit he’s overseeing are waiting to see whether the General Assembly will help untangle the thorny area of video poker law and that he wouldn’t want to get in legislators’ way.

During the first part of this decade, video poker mostly took the form of stand-alone machines commonly placed in bars or convenience stores. But effective July 1, 2007, the General Assembly banned those machines after reports of operators skirting the law and giving illegal cash payouts.

In February, Wake County Judge Howard Manning issued a ruling that the ban was illegal because it allowed video poker at Indian reservation casinos but not in other parts of the state. That case, which has not taken effect and is on appeal, made headlines that warned video poker could be on its way back to North Carolina.

But an arm of the industry has been thriving here since shortly before the ban. The companies have refurbished some of the old video machine cabinets or simply used desktop computers to create terminals for the new games.

Once again, they are sometimes found in bars and convenience stores. As well, it’s possible to find in Greensboro and elsewhere stand-alone businesses that are little more than tables lined with computer terminals.

The machines’ software is based on a sweepstakes drawing system that is a cousin of promotions offered by soda companies and fast-food restaurants. Although the prize payouts are supposed to be predetermined, the games have the look and feel of live-action play.

“They are addictive,” said Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin, a Hamlet Democrat. “There are some people unable to stop feeding the money into the machine until their paycheck is gone.”

The state’s Alcohol Law Enforcement Division, which has responsibility for enforcing the state’s gambling laws, started building cases against these machines in 2007 and 2008.

Makers of the machines sued to stop ALE agents and sheriff’s departments, and that’s the case before Craig. He has issued orders preventing law enforcement from moving against the manufacturers or even saying much about the cases.

“We’re going to wait and see what the courts decide,” said ALE director Bill Chandler, who was cautious in speaking about the sweepstakes machines. When asked about the current state enforcement, Chandler said, “There are several places where we’re enjoined from enforcing the law,” but wouldn’t go further.

Rapp and Goodwin said it was unclear what steps the General Assembly might take  to clear up the situation for law enforcement and the courts, although both expressed frustration with the courts and the machine manufacturers.

“Every time we try to outlaw video poker, another injunction is issued,” Goodwin said, who described legislative efforts as a game of whack-a-mole with software designers who find new ways to code their gambling systems. “We anticipate the same thing will happen if we pass another law to close the loophole.”

One problem in crafting legislation has been writing laws that ban video poker in all its forms while still allowing beverage companies and the like to offer their games.

Rapp said that it may be time to look at a more sweeping ban, adding, “I’m tired of playing games with these folks.”
 
Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com