North Carolina State Representative Earl Jones wants to see Video Poker legalized in the state. Video poker would create a vast amount of revenue in just one year which would help the state dramatically. Jones argues that since North Carolina has a state lottery it is only fair that they legalize Video poker.

Video poker was legal in the state until 2007 when complaints piled up from local law enforcement about corruption in the gambling industry. The machines then became illegal. The old law stated that machines could not give cash prizes but tokens worth at maximum ten dollars.

Law officials stated that illegal machines were awarding cash payouts in the thousands. Those against the machines stated that addicts spent a ton of money with the illegal machines so the law was changed.

Jones disagrees so he has created a new proposal that would allow the machines to award cash prizes. Operators of the games would be licensed and policed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue. The machines would also be connected to telephone or internet connections at the department. That way officials could monitor the income from the games in real time.

No more than five machines would be allowed at each site and the machines would be taxed at 20% their gross income. This has an estimated revenue of $2 billion of which the state would earn $480 to $500 billion.




- 2009-04-21