Pull-Tab Machines NOT Slots?
Pull-tab machines not 'slots,' stores told
The Iowa Lottery says the term cannot be used in advertisements for the new games.
("WILLIAM PETROSKI"); WILLIAM PETROSKI
DES MOINES REGISTER STAFF WRITER
March 26, 2005
The Iowa Lottery's new video pull-tab machines may look like casino games, but state officials have declared they can't be called slot machines.
The Iowa Lottery Board has adopted emergency rules to clarify the situation after some convenience stores advertised the machines as slots. Earlier this month, three QC Mart convenience stores in Davenport and Bettendorf that offer "TouchPlay" video pull-tab games had signs outside their stores that read: "Win $300 Today: Play Our New Slot Machines."
Video pull-tab machines, introduced last year after test marketing, offer cheery music and video features that resemble slot machines, but they operate in a different manner.
Players insert money into the equipment and a pull-tab ticket is dispensed. The video monitor displays results to show whether the ticket is a winner. The pull-tab machines, which have names such as "Irish Gold" and "Touch Tab," don't rack up credits, and payouts are made by a cashier.
The Iowa Lottery already had administrative rules in place that said retailers cannot use false or misleading terms to describe their games. This includes such words as casino, slot machines or video lottery, said Iowa Lottery Vice President Mary Neubauer.
"We wanted to make it perfectly clear, however, that those sanctions also apply to the TouchPlay program. So the board met and passed emergency rules" last week, Neubauer said.
The video pull-tab machines at the three convenience stores are operated by the Iowa Lottery in a partnership with Kampe Vending Service of East Moline, Ill. The firm's Iowa Lottery license will be suspended at the three stores for seven days, starting April 3, Neubauer said.
Cassie Polk, the manager of a QC Mart store in Davenport, said Friday the message on the signs was immediately changed after store officials learned of the violation earlier this month.
"We had not been informed that we could not refer to them as a slot machine, so we were never given a warning," Polk said. "But as soon as we found out, we had no problem changing it within 10 minutes after I got a phone call."
A man who answered a telephone Friday at Kampe Vending Service declined to identify himself and hung up on a reporter.
Gambling critic Tom Coates of Norwalk, who had opposed the introduction of video pull-tab machines on grounds that they resemble slot machines, said Friday that Iowa Lottery officials were being unfair to the Quad Cities' businesses.
"I think it is ironic that here they have some vendors who are being a little too honest and now they have to slap their hands," Coates said.
However, the Iowa attorney general's office and several courts have also ruled that video pull-tab machines are not slot machines.
Because Davenport and Bettendorf host riverboat casinos, the slot-machine advertising at the three convenience stores was quickly noticed by casino executives. Wes Ehrecke, president of the Iowa Gaming Association, which represents 13 state-regulated casinos, said his organization wants to ensure that such lottery games are properly regulated.
The Iowa Lottery, in cooperation with private amusement machine companies, has installed about 500 video pull-tab machines in places such as taverns, fraternal clubs and convenience stores. Lottery officials said last year they hoped to eventually offer about 4,000 video pull-tab machines that could generate an additional $20 million in profits.
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Can't they find a better way to spend your tax dollars?
Re: Pull-Tab Machines NOT Slots?
幸運わんわん Luckydog or Yukiwanwan in Japanese 
