Lawyers submit arguments in video poker case, await ruling

Posted 5:44PM on Tuesday 8th January 2002 ( 23 years ago )

ATLANTA - Superior Court Judge John Goger is reviewing written arguments from lawyers on whether Georgia's recent ban on video poker ban is constitutional. Goger doesn't have a time limit on when he will issue a ruling. Attorneys had until Tuesday to submit final briefs. ``It could be as early as this Thursday or Friday and it could be as late as next week,'' Jennifer Rodman, staff attorney for Goger, said Tuesday. ``It just depends on how much time it's going to take in reviewing this stuff.'' Alan Begner, attorney for Old South Amusements and Game World Inc., two gaming companies, said the law is too vague. ``My goal is to have the judge rule that the law was done wrong,'' Begner said. ``I want to get this one (law) knocked out. If I buy some time, I don't mind.'' In September, after repeatedly calling video poker a ``cancer,'' Gov. Roy Barnes signed legislation outlawing video poker after Jan. 1. But a few days before the law was to take effect, Goger temporarily blocked it, saying he needed more time to consider the case. The bill prohibits machines that allow games of chance such as poker, blackjack or keno, but doesn't affect arcade-style amusement games. Cruise ships docking in Georgia are exempt. The law gives operators until July to get rid of the machines, but lawyers for the video poker industry say the state cannot order their removal without compensation. The state argues that the machines could be modified to remain legal, so no compensation is needed. Don Hankinson, president of the Georgia Amusement and Music Operators Association, said the machines can't be changed, and although they can be sold tobusinesses in other states where the industry is legal, each state has its own guidelines. ``Our whole contention is it's not the machines that are doing anything wrong,'' Hankinson said. ``Our whole contention is that you need to prosecute the people that are doing it wrong, and we'll fully support that.'' Police have complained that under the current law, too many operators give illegal cash payouts. Operators are only allowed to give single-prize payoffs of $5 in gift certificates. Hankinson said at least 30,000 people will lose their jobs if the machines are banned. ``The thing people want to play are these machines,'' Hankinson said. ``They wouldn't be in the bars. They wouldn't be in the truck stops all over the place if people didn't want to play them. They're very popular.'' A Georgia Bureau of Investigation report estimated there are between 15,000 and 20,385 video poker machines in Georgia, accounting for annual gross proceeds of more than $1 billion. State officials have said the games spread quickly in Georgia after South Carolina banned them in 2000.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/1/200448