Many skill machines are on the convenient stores and gas stations cross U.S, The City of Wichita has proposed an ordinance that would punish businesses that permit gambling devices outside of state-owned or tribally owned casinos.
The proposed ordinance, according to the meeting schedule for Tuesday, “creates a presumption” that a licensed business will receive a written warning the first time it is found in possession or illegal gambling devices or games of skill with currency payouts. A second violation would be a 90-day suspension of the license, and the third would garner a one-year suspension.
The City says the devices outside of regulated casinos are harmful to the community because they do not follow a required minimum payout, so players have a lower chance of winning. The City claims that some business owners are told by vendors that the machines are legal, and that when the machines are removed from licensed businesses, they are replaced with console-style video “games of skill.
These games operate the same as a gambling device, but because there is skill involved, they have been deemed legal in some states.
The City believes that although the games may be legal, they are unregulated in payout and offer no consumer protection. Their impact, the City said, is the same as an illegal gambling device.
