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Ohio’s Battle Against Slots

The owners and operators are fighting the state of Ohio to be able to keep their slots, as they say that they are not the same thing as Las Vegas type slot machines. They contend that their slots are the same as those found at your local Chuck E. Cheese location, and to compare them to high profile slots is just not fair.

The governor and Attorney General disagree. Governor Ted Strickland and AG Marc Dann have issued an executive order that would make all of the slots illegal. However, in a move to support the slots, a Columbus area judge has temporarily blocked the ban on slots, and has issued a temporary restraining order to Ohio Skills Games, Inc. The company says that they are afraid of “irreparable harm” while the legal case continues on.

Dann is going after the order, saying that the slots are illegal per the state’s constitution. The only kind of gambling that is allowed is horse racing, the state lottery and charitable bingo games. However, the owners of the slots say that “skill based” games are allowed, and their slots are skill based – and therefore they are legal.

Meanwhile, many proponents of the slots say that the state is wasting tax payer money fighting to get the slots banned, when they should be regulating them and taking in money to benefit the state. They say that residents just go over the state line to gamble anyway, so keep the slots and keep the money here where it can do them some good.

Back to September 2007 Archive.