Lorain/Elyria, OH
State house passes gaming machine ban
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COLUMBUS — Bars and storefront parlors will not be allowed to hand out cash prizes for games similar to slot machines under a bill that cleared the House Wednesday with surprising ease.
The legislation drew just 13 “no” votes in the 99-member House, which is controlled by Republicans. Many members in the House support expanded gambling, but Speaker Jon Husted said lawmakers felt that multiplying the number of tabletop gambling machines was not the way to do it.
The bill, which also limits the value of non-cash prizes for such games at $10, now goes to the Senate, where President Bill Harris is expected to put it on a fast track. It then would become law upon Gov. Ted Strickland’s signature.
Strickland, a Democrat, has tried to use executive power to stop the games from entering the state.
The bill contains an emergency clause, meaning it takes effect right away, and opponents would not have the chance to collect petitions to force a referendum.
Under the bill, operators who make cash payouts could face six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for a first offense and one year in prison for a second offense.
David Corey, executive vice president of the Ohio Coin Machine Association, said lawmakers had told him an exception would be made for operators to award cash at tournaments for games such as pool and darts. However, Husted said he did not want to leave a possible loophole for continuing the payouts for tabletop games such as Tic Tac Fruit, in which bettors try to line up pieces of fruit on a video screen.
“Everything we were told that they were going to allow for cash prizes for tournament play wasn’t done. Basically, we were lied to,” Corey said.
Twenty-seven Lorain County establishments operate with the Tic Tac Fruit game.
Husted spokeswoman Karen Tabor said the tournament exception was just another option available to majority Republicans as they drafted language for the amendment. “That was not the one the (GOP) caucus chose,” she said.
Husted said he was closing off potential trouble by not allowing the exception.
“If you don’t close that, you’re essentially opening yourself up for the next generation of ‘skill games.’ They’ll call them tournaments rather than just one-on-one games with machines,” Husted said after the vote.
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Please explain to me how the Ohio Lottery is not gambling? The odds of a person winning money in the lottery are far less then winning money in other forms of gambling. This moralistic façade the state government and citizens of Ohio that elect them try to portray are bankrupting this state. I would be more impressed if these hypocrites would stand-up and say “NO TO ALL GAMBLING†including the state run lottery and horse racing that target the low-income. Instead, they align themselves with special interest groups and religious organizations and paint a picture of a ‘moral majority’ that picks and chooses its ethical agenda; while the money that could move this state out of the bottom tier in state economic rankings goes to Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and even Canada. Give me a break and stop claiming to be something all of you are not. You’re ether for gambling or you’re against gambling, you can’t be both! (Unless you’re a member of the “moral majorityâ€, then you can be anything you want and justify it with manipulation and scripture.)
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I also feel it should be all or none. The Lottery, Horses, Dogs, Bingo and all what we now call legal tickets in private clubs should go. Darts & Pool are a nationwide compition and including them in the ban would stop all member of our state from being represented in national touraments.
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Why stop here? Why not go after bowling leagues and golf events? (sarcasm)
I knew that exploiting the fruit games would cause a backlash, I just didn’t realize how hard the hammer would fall.
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Once again Ohio manages to screw it up for the much bigger majority to protect a few from themselves. If it’s not un-informed voters passing over-reaching legislation like the smoking ban, it’s the pinheads in office passing over-reaching legislation to stop tic-tac-fruit.
Darts and billiards are games of skill. This isn’t even open for debate, yet Ohio will stop tournaments involving such if there are cash payouts.
The PGA (golfing) and PBA (bowling) have tournaments all over the state. Are they exempt? What about the NFL and MLB? Their playoff systems are tournaments. The winning teams get more money as they advance to the championship. Will the Cleveland Indians be breaking the law when the come back to Jacobs Field to play Boston?
Politicians and the voting Public need to educate themselves before they make their legislative decisions. Instead of arguing about whether to require an ID to vote, we should be requiring an IQ test and common sense to vote or run for office.
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I don’t understand how Pool and Darts competitions could be included in this. Gambling is a game of chance. Pool and Darts is a game of skill. Not the same thing. If those games are included, then golf and tons of other sports should be included. They are games of skill and people get rewarded for winning a tournament.
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As a League Operator in Northern Ohio, I can speak directly on the effects that smoking has had on our tavern industry. Now the state wants to regulate one of the last attractions for the taverns. I find it hard to believe that Governor Strickland and Attorney Dann are blind to how this will negatively effect the tavern businesses of Ohio. I hope they are prepared for more people joing the unemployment lines, more businesses for sale and more foreclosures. I hope our legislators won’t be enjoying any Golf Scrambles, because this law would also make them illegal!
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How could this bill pass and still make any sense? What in the world makes passing it AN EMERGENCY? What is wrong with our lawmakers? Cleveland may be the worst city in the recent poll for poverty but do we really have to be the dumbest also? Are you telling me that my son can No longer go to Dave & Busters and play his favorite games because he me acquire enough tokens to take home the remote control car? Am I not allowed to sit and play Tic Tac fruit while having lunch in my local bar? How about if I ever get lucky enough to win a pool tournament I would go to jail…? Is this State retarded? I moved from Cleveland because of their unbalanced finacials and poor schools and inefficient police… What’s next? Should I move out of Ohio all together now? How in the world is the Lottery legal when your odds of winning is closer to zero and their guaranty is “you’ll have fun” meanwhile no one is auditing where the money goes. ALL THE POOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE NO MONEY PLAY THE LOTTERY IN HOPES TO GET RICH! How is that fair? My Mom buys lottery tickets every day, I beg her not to. Unfortunately she has this far feched dream about hitting the Lotto and buying houses for all her children on the same street to live close to each other (dream). Skill games attract those who like competition not a prayer to get rich. I could babble for hours… Someone needs to wake up in the House / Senate and put a stop to this nonsense…AND TO PASS IT AS SOME TYPE OF EMERGENCY..WOWWWW. HOW RETARDED IS THAT! Do we need better things to do or what. This sound lore like a mission driven by those who would benefit from this action. I’m confident that the Lottery would insert their version of the Tis Tac fruit and profit from it just as they monopolize the entire gaming circuit. I would love for nothing more that one of those anoying news guys to probe into the representatives who are pushing this issue to see what direct benefit, if any, is a result of this particular action. It simply can not be a direct dislike to skill games. Thanks marc Dan, I don’t even know why I voted for you. Why don’t someone pass something that LOWERS my taxes or better yet elliminate them? I just realized today that my Sales tax is at 7.75%. It may look like I need to move again…
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To all the Gits that claim “The people of Ohio have spoken… blabbity,blah,blab” on the matter of expanded gambling:
They HAVE spoken,Stupitrons; but,you’re not listening because you have that demented little tape loop playing inside your pointy little heads that rationalizes hidden agenda hiding behind moralistic posturing and flawed sociology.
Quinnipiac University ( All I know about them is that they have uncannily accurate polling models) has discovered that residents of OH distinguish between Casinos and Class III slots (random number generator) on the one hand, and electronic skill games on the other. Survey Says ! also that most APPROVE
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(CONT’D)
…of the skill games or have no problem with them. This has been reported AND widely ignored by elected chimps and those that shill for them and the REAL interests that they serve (eg. Who benefits (Cui Bono) REALLY, from the State Lottery ?
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I guarantee a lawsuit would show that this bill will not hold up because darts and pool (might as well throw in golden tee as well) have been proven to be games of skill,not luck/chance. All it will take is about 3 lawsuits getting started (I will be oe of them) and the bill will be brushed aside like most of the idiotic ideas that are put forth from columbus. It is quite amazing the hypocricy that flows from our “trusted leaders” mouthes. Someday, we may get it right so the state can generate enough revenue without going after us for every lasy penny. Of course. the easy way around this is you have a 3rd party operate your tournaments. Then technically, the bar does not profit per se from the games. If they get a kickback that is not recorded, then the government loses out on even more moeny. Just shows the ignorance. Ahhhh, to be a public servant and not have to trly work, God love the government.
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This is, by far, the biggest stab-in-the-back the House has done to Ohio yet. What is next, work by gunpoint?!
Well, this is Ohio, I’m sure it’ll be a law before too long!
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