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NC Cops Barred From Shutting Down Slot Games (3 of 3)

Since there’s no actual exchange of money, the slot game game operators believe that they are being clever and circumventing the law. But Freeman claims otherwise. He compares this form of illicit slot machine gaming to “crack cocaine,” saying that he has heard time and again of people losing their entire paychecks in the pursuit of jackpots that never happened, and believes that these particular machines are very conducive to problem gambling and addiction. These games are not controlled by any legal authorities, so nobody really knows what the probability of winning (a variable typically authorized by law) is.

Hest Technologies created the computer software used in such operations, and staunchly defends their assertion that the programs are allowed under state law. Their argument was apparently convincing enough to persuade the Guilford County judge, but Freeman says that he is not sold on the innocence of the slot game terminals. He said that his force would be actively pursuing and arresting those that operate this type of gaming situation, if it were not for the restraining order.

Over the summer, the Legislature made server-based (online) slot machine gaming –along with all other form of electronic gambling- illegal. Nobody could conduct these operations, nor could they possess a computer product on which these alternative slot games could possibly be run. The law specifically outlined different steps of the phone card/sweepstakes scam to make it fall under the revised law, but game makers promptly tweaked their retail systems to make them compliant with any viable loopholes in the state gambling law.

Back to February 2009 Archive.