Businesses fight to keep gaming machines

February 09, 2012|By Michael Schwanke | KWCH 12 Eyewitness News

(WICHITA, Kan.) —

You see them in restaurants, bars, and gas stations. Are the video gaming machines you see legal?

It’s one of most commonly asked questions our FactFinder 12 Investigators hear. What we learned is a clear answer is hard to find.

“What we say is the machine still is a gambling device,” says Richard Peterson-Klien, Executive Director of the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission.

The state is planning to step up enforcement on the machines and will begin warning more businesses that have them.

But business owners are fighting to keep them.

“Our machine is a gift kiosk,” says Mark Griggs who is a vendor.

“People look at these machines and see what they think resembles a machine at a casino. Just because it looks like a duck doesn't mean it's a duck,” says Griggs.

Griggs says his machines provide a product. He says for every dollar you put in a machine, you get a gift certificate for a dollar worth of goods on his website.
In addition, he runs his as sweepstakes.

“We have an “x” amount of winners and “x” amount of losers. We have a starting date for each sweepstakes and an ending date for each sweepstakes. Our rules our published on the machine,” says Griggs.

The state isn’t convinced.

“Some of these people will convince you, me and everybody. But, when you look at the machine you'll find it's gambling,” says Peterson-Klein.

Griggs isn’t the only one who argues his machines are legal.

You’ll also find business owners who defend the machines.

“If you pay people cash you're in violation of the law,” says Mike’s Steak House owner Craig Gabel.

Click to Find Out The Law

Gabel says he only pays store credit as a prize and his machines have a “sweepstakes” element to them.

Once again, the state says that’s not enough to make them legal.

“What we say is this is a gambling device with price, chance and consideration associated with it,” says Peterson-Klein.

Those three words are what businesses are up against.

Some business owners we talked to say they won’t put up a fight. If they are warned to turn off the machines, that’s what they’ll do.

“Until the law gets defined clearly, I’m on the right side of the law. Are there illegal machines out there? Absolutely. Should the state do something about that? Absolutely. But I don't want to be lumped into that,” says Griggs who wants his machines to be challenged in a court.

The state says it’s also ready for a challenge.

“When you put all these attachments to it you're trying to make it gray, not black and white. What we're doing is cutting through the gray and looking at the black and white,” says Peterson-Klein.

Last year, the Kansas Supreme Court said the regulating the use of so-called "gray machines" was overbroad in its reach.

Click to Read 2011 Kansas Supreme Court Ruling (.pdf)

The opinion issued by the court said the term could apply to any tool or machine used for gambling games. It said the law was too broad because it could apply to any item used for gambling, including phones, televisions, or computers.

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