Gambling news from http://wvgazette.com/
In 2001, the state legalized the machines and taxed them. Bar owners and fraternal organizations figured the state would take about 35 percent of revenues. But the new law gave 46 percent of the video poker money to the state.
Soon after, the club association went into hibernation. The club lost its “good standing” designation with the Secretary of State’s office after association leaders stopped filing required paperwork and paying registration fees.
But Bane, Long and others decided to revive the group. The organization is back in good standing with the state. Dues are $125 a year.
“It will come back,” Long said. “We’re working diligently to get it back. We have to reinstate trust.”
They want a voice in the Legislature, but there are no plans to hire a lobbyist this time around.
“Lobbyists will sell you out,” Long said. “We can do a better job with our own legislators.”
Club association leaders believe that state laws give racetracks special treatment.
For instance, racetrack casinos can advertise — and get hundreds of thousands of dollars in state grants to do so. Video poker retailers aren’t allowed to advertise.
Customers who go to the track can start pumping dollars into video poker machines starting at 10 a.m. on Sunday. But bar patrons can’t play video poker machines until 1 p.m. on Sunday. Also, you can play video poker at racetracks when you’re as young as 18, but you have to be 21 if you play at a bar, fraternal club or retail establishment.
The maximum bet on a poker machine at a retail location is $2, but it’s $5 at a racetrack. Video poker retailers also must pay a host of state-mandated start-up fees that racetracks don’t.
Retailers say they spend about $70,000 to get five machines up and running.
“We’re doing the same business [as the racetracks], but the state is running a double standard,” Long said.
The state’s take of video poker revenue goes to senior citizen programs, tourism promotion and the state Promise Scholarship, which provides free college tuition to more than 3,000 students a year.
The scholarship’s costs have escalated in recent years. Club association leaders fear the state will increase its cut of limited video lottery cash to make up the shortfall.
“They’re going to take a higher percentage off us to make sure it’s funded,” Long said. “Every year, they want to take more money.”
Club association leaders haven’t taken an official position on the proposed table games legislation, but they’re watching closely. If the state would drop its take of video poker revenue — to, say, 35 percent — bar owners and fraternal groups would likely stay out of the table games battle, Long said.
The club association realizes it will take a lot of work to change the negative perception of video poker establishments — that they’re seedy, that they take advantage of the poor and elderly, that they contribute to gambling addiction.
However, association leaders also know that the state has become so reliant on gambling revenue that it likely can’t do without it.
“People want these places,” Bane said. “I have middle-class working people who come here. We’ve cleaned up these businesses, and cleaned up the communities we put these in.”
|
|
World Casino Directory 
Gambling Forums 
