Kentucky Attorney General declares ‘risk-free’ games illegal
These machines resemble casino slots and are not considered games of chance.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman recently issued an advisory to local prosecutors regarding “risk-free” new games that resemble slot machines, according to a Hoptown Chronicle local news report.
Coleman went on to note in the advisory that these games “are actually illegal gambling devices.”
The Attorney General said in a statement, “There is no safe harbor in Kentucky’s gambling laws for this kind of game.
“The game lures the player into continuing to play on the chance that the next game play will result in a win worth more than he will have to pay for the current play. This hope that the subsequent game play will be a winner is the ‘element of chance’ that makes these so-called ‘Risk-Free Plays’ games illegal gambling devices.”
Laws banning these types of machines, known as “gray machines,” have been on the books in Kentucky since last year.
Since the new law has passed, hundreds of these type of games have made their way into convenience stores, gas stations and bars, the local report said.
Game developers have pushed back, claiming that games of this nature fall into the skill games category because they are not considered games of chance.
Skill games manufacturers Pace-O-Matic and Prominent Technologies disconnected their machines following the new law, the local report also stated.
However, both companies have filed lawsuits, claiming the legislation is unconstitutional.
Kentucky Judge Phillip Shepherd has voiced support for a current ban on these slot-like machines. The Franklin County Circuit Court Judge recently dismissed claims that Kentucky’s law “violated various sections of the state’s constitution.”
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