healthy to gamble

Video Poker on the Way Out in North Carolina

Superior Court judge from Wake County Narley Cashwell denied a request from video poker operators across North Carolina to temporarily stop the first phase of implementation of the video poker ban. The ban is originally slated to take effect Oct. 1.

The North Carolina Amusement Machine Association, many of its member companies and some video poker players have filed a class action suit against the state of N.C., challenging the constitutionality of the law. They have requested the judge for a temporary restraining order that would put the law's provisions on hold as long as the lawsuit is pending.

However, in a one-page order, Judge Cashwell came to a decision that the plaintiffs "have failed to demonstrate that they are likely to sustain immediate and irreparable harm ... or that they are likely to prevail on the merits of the case."

Under the new law, the maximum number of video poker machines allowable in any location will drop from three to two effective Oct. 1. The number will further drop to one by early next year, and then a total ban will take effect by July 1, 2007.

The lawsuit claims that the effecting of the law will deprive the machine owners of compensation for their machines that will be declared illegal, violate their equal protection rights and void a state compact that the state entered into with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which allows them to operate a video gambling casino on their reservation.