.... News briefs .... news briefs .... news briefs .... news briefs ... . news briefs .... ne
.... . ..... The Ohio Supreme Cou rt has taken under consideration the issue
of " gray area games ," and a lower court injunction allows the operation
of the gaming-type devices until the matter has been decided in the high
court . Mil l s-Jennings appealed the decision by the State Court of Appeals
against gray area games. The coin-op amu sement sector has opposed the
gray area games , and spokesmen for the industry sai d they hoped the
State Supreme Court would broaden the opin ion in the supreme court, to
encompass more gaming-type videos than the poker variety. Mills-Jennings,
meanwhile , stands to have the case go in its favor and for poker videos
to be ruled amusement devices . . . .... . . . . .... . . . ..... .. . . .. . . .... .. . · . . · · ·
........ .. Video Slot machines, blackjack , and poker games for revenue-
raising lottery shelved by the stat es of Massachuse tts and New York.
Massachusetts officials cited "mounting p ublic opposition" and terminated
a contract with Bally Manu facturing to install 20 video slots on a 90-day
trial basis.
In New York State , the issue wasn ' t settled by mid- Septembe r ,
but the State Attorney General in a forma l l egal opinion Sept ember 8
said that the video gaming devices which had be en planned , did not
fall within the a uthority of the state to operate as legal lotteries .
Meanwhile , the company t h at had been contracted by the state to operate
the games, Synt ech International, Inc. of Dallas, was reported by the
New York Times to be considering suit agains t the state because the
company already had invested $65,000 in the aborted gaming project . .. . . . .
....... . . . The Ohio Music & Amusement Associati on announced the first of
its series of "Mini " Service Schools. The firs t , October 9 -10 was to b e
held a t the Harl ey Hotel South, Independence , Ohio, to be followed on
October 1 3-14 by a school at the Holiday Inn, Findley . OMAA members have
a pr iority on the 30-student limited reg.istration for these and future
"mini " schoo l s , but interested persons may contact OMAA offices, ~o lumbu s,
614/22 1 - 8600 ... . ...... . ... . .. .. . . . ... . . ... . ... .. . . .. ..... . .. . . .. .. . .. . . . · .
.. .. . ..•.. Ed Tober has been appointed vice pres i dent and chief accounting
officer of Game Plan , Inc., of Addison , Illinois . Tober will have increased
responsibilities and will report to Darre l l G. McCo l lough , president,
and Chris Reehl, vice president/finance ..... . .. . . .... .... . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . .
.. . . . ... .. Empire Di stributi ng, Chicago, announced the promotion of
five of its personne l to vice pres ide nt posts . They are E . R. Barth , to
vi ce president/finance; Robert Rondeau, vice president/general manager,
Green Bay offi ce ; Richard Dugan, vice p r esident/genera l manager ,
Indianapo l i s off i ce ; Henry Hei ser , vice pres iden t/general manager, Livonia
office; and Harold LaRoux, vice president/general manager, Wyoming off i ce .
.. . . . .... . General Vendi ng, Luthervi l le, Maryland distributorship,
thr e w a party for an October 4 recognition of it s customers ' support.
The Sunday cocktail buffet was he ld at Chestnut Ri dge Country Club . .. . . . .
. .. ....... Irv Ovitz r etired September 30 a f t er 20 years as vice president
of vending at World Wide Distr ibu tors , Chicag o . Ovitz had a to t al
of 44 years ' t e nure in the coin industry a n d was very familiar to
vending operators in metro Chicago , downstate Illinois , and Indiana and
Iowa counties served by World Wide.
Fred Skor , pres ident of World Wide ,
said :
"Irv will b e sorely misseO. , and we wish him well. " .. ... . .. .. . .. . . .
. . ........ Gary C . Wilki n has been appointed sal es and service represen-
tative for Coin Acceptors , Inc. in its Denver office . Wilkin will
cover western Wyoming and Colorado as wel l as Utah to serve CoinCo customers
i n v e nding and servicing of coin equipment . . .. .... .. . . ... .. . . . . .... ..... .
. . .. .. .. .. Dr. John R. Minarcik of Rockville , Maryland has claimed the
highest record score to date o n the Carnival video game. He accumulated
21 0 ,420 points on August 1 5 at the Prism Amusements center in Rockville
while working on hi s f ifteenth bear in one game .. ... . . . . .... . . .. . .. .. ... .
62
PLA Y METER, November 1, 1981