Counte.rpoint: We don't want any forest fires
You are right about one thing and one thing onl y. The
term " gray area machine" is a poor choice of word s to
describe video card games. In our opinion, these
games should be referred to as " subterfuge gambling
devices. " Because that 's exa ctl y what they are. In fa ct,
there is no question that the IRS would have classified
all such machines as coin-operated gaming devices
under 26 U.S.c. 4461-2. But since the repeal of th e
$250 IRS gaming tax stamp on August 1, 1980, the
federal government has left the matter of deciding
what constitutes a gaming device up to state and local
authorities. To date, video card games have been
ruled to be gambling devices in Ohio, Pennsylvania ,
Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon , and more states are
sure to follow.
While you would have us all believe that you would
not build or sell a product with the intent to break the
law, you openly admit that people gamble on video
poker machines. As you say, the word intent is the
word that should be understood . Would you have us
believe that makers of radar detectors for private
automobiles do so with the intent that they not be
used to break the 55-mph speed limit law?
And what about the manufacturers of drug para-
phernalia? Would you have us believe that the
people who buy drug paraphernalia do so for amuse-
ment only? Of course not. In fact, the Supreme Court
recently ruled that state and local authorities had the
right to ban the sale of such merchandise specifically
because they were manufactured with the intent of
breaking the law. And now you want us to believe that
video games with such theme s as draw poker, five
card stud, black-jack, hi-Io, bingo, horse racing, and
dice are manufactured with the intent of providing
pure amusement? Just how naive do you think people
are?
Your argument about people being able to gamble
on anything such as a TV set, a pool table, or a deck of
cards is ludicrous. If a player bets with another player
on the outcome of a game of Pac-Man , the players
may be gambling, but the machine isn ' t. Have you
ever heard of a Pac-Man game being confiscated as a
gaming device? I' m sure you haven 't. But we know of
numerous cases ·wherein video card games have
been confiscated and operators convicted for gaming
violations.
So let's reconsider that word you chose , intent.
Regardless of what you say, games of chance are
intended to promote gambling. Games such as poker,
black jack, five card stud , bingo, horse racing , and
PLAY METER, June 15 , 1982
dice are all games of chance whether they are played
in a casino or on a video screen .
Pure amusement devices do two things: take a fixed
price per game and provide a challenging game of
skill (including, sometimes, the entertainment of an
additional replay or two ). Gambling devices, on the
other hand , must always perform three functions :
accept more than one fixed price (the stake) for a
single pla y, appl y pure chance , and control chance-
determined payouts (wins ). A gambling device
cannot have an y substantial skill element, because
then skillful players could consistently beat it.
There can be no doubt that video-card games flunk
the test for being pure amusement devices. Yet they
meet all the necessary requirements of a gambling
device. The only distinguishing feature between a
pure gambling device and the alleged " amusement
only " devices is the absence of a direct payout. That is
why the " gra y area games" are best labeled " subter-
fuge gambling devices ." These machines contain
circuity for " knocking off" and recording unplayed
credits. Some of these machines may award up to
4,000 credits on a single play. In a pure amusement
device, no one ever wins more than the number of
games that might be reasonably expected to be
played off-five, ten , sometimes up to fifteen. Who in
his right mind would ever expect to playoff 4,000
games on a machine?
Regardless of what your real intent is or how you
say your machines may be used, it is our opinion that
video-card games, by virtue of their construction and
inherent features , are camouflaged gambling
devices, and their use as such is a crime in 49 states
(and a crime of felony degree in many) .
This industry does have its problems that we must
grapple with , but the problem of " subterfuge
gambling devices" is one we would rather do without.
In its proper form , your metaphor applies to your
position on this issue. " You can ' t see the forest forthe
trees. "
We don ' t want to see any forest fires. So why don ' t
you and others like you go find your own forest and
and leave ours alone .
R~+ -
Editor and Publisher
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