Queens politician: Pull Plug on "illegal" Video Poker
Queens pol: Pull plug
on 'illegal' vid poker
BY DONALD BERTRAND
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
August 26 2004
Calling them "clearly illegal," a Queens state senator is demanding that video poker machines be withdrawn from Saratoga Gaming and Raceway and any other video lottery racinos."Video poker machines require a player to use skills to increase the chances of a payout and are clearly illegal in New York State," Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) said in a letter to Nancy Palumbo, director of the state Lottery Division.
Padavan said that the video poker machines are among the most popular machines at Saratoga.
The poker machines are based on five-card draw poker, in which the bettor first gets to see the cards dealt and then picks which ones to hold before taking a second spin.
This implies that the gambler actually can affect the outcome of the game through skill. If the game relies on the gambler to use some level of skill, it is considered a video poker machine and is therefore illegal, said the lawmaker, a longtime foe of gambling and the lottery.
The state lottery is reviewing the Padavan letter, said Carolyn Hapeman, a spokeswoman for the agency.
The new poker-themed video lottery game recently introduced at Saratoga, as well as at Monticello and the Finger Lakes, is just that, a video lottery game, said Hapeman.
"Like all video lottery games, Video Match Poker is a method of delivering lottery tickets to the public and works exactly as other legally permitted video lottery games," said the spokeswoman.
The racino at Saratoga has 30 of the poker games among the more than 1,300 video lottery terminals.
The other VLTs play more like old-style slot machines where the player gets one spin per bet.
Plans call for the video games to come to both Aqueduct and Yonkers raceways, but the "game mix has not been determined yet," said Hapeman.
In July, a state Appellate Court said that VLT machines were constitutional, ruling that they are lottery machines and not slot machines.
However, the revenue flow to purses and breeders was ruled unconstitutional. According to the constitution, all of those funds must go education.
The state is appealing the decision.
Originally published on August 26, 2004
