Fans of video poker in North Carolina would likely be the first to throw back this full-house: it may result in seeing the gambling machines outlawed throughout the state.

Wednesday, the state House voted 114-1 to ban the popular poker outlets, gradually reducing the number of machines that a retailer may operate to zero by July 2007. Currently, owners can legally stock up to three machines.

Five previous attempts to have the measure passed were inevitably-thwarted by Speaker Jim Black – until it was revealed that his campaign accepted $167,000 in political donations from the video poker industry during his 2002 and 2004 elections (according to Democracy North Carolina, an advocacy group that is working on behalf on campaign finance changes). Federal and state investigations of these political donations increased pressure to pass the ban on this occasion – and looks to have indeed been successful.

The measure will now head to the Senate, which had approved the ban five times itself since 2000 – with the bills consistently killed in the House, buoyed by Black’s arguments of the industry’s job-generating ability.

Under the legislation, retailers caught with five or more machines or repeat offenders will face a felony if convicted. Some 20,000 illegal electronic poker machines are estimated by County sheriffs to be in circulation within North Carolina – a number twice that of legal machines.

Of note, the bill will have no effect on the present video gambling machines located on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian reservation casino.

posted by Rex Harris