Nearly 300 people have called a hotline set up by Missouri gambling regulators to complain about unlicensed slot machines that have been spreading across the state in bars and gas stations.
In a report to the Missouri Lottery Commission, the general counsel of the Missouri Gaming Commission said the hotline, set up to stem the tide of unlicensed machines siphoning money from the regulated casino industry, had received 280 citizen complaints as of last week.
“A lot of them are from citizens concerned about illegal gaming,” Ed Grewach told lottery officials, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The machines we examined were illegal gambling machines.”
The machines are similar to the so-called “skill games” that have been proliferating in several states. The unlicensed games, appearing in locations as diverse as pizza shops and laundromats in addition to gas stations, are the subject of a campaign initiated last year by the American Gaming Association and the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers, which emphasizes the fact that the unregulated machines have no consumer protection and, unlike casinos, pay no taxes or fees to benefit state budgets.
The Missouri legislature has initiated efforts to ban the machines, which are produced in Missouri by Torch Electronics. There also is legislation introduced that would make the games legal and tax them.
A case is pending judgment in Linn County against Tritium International Consultants of Blue Springs over illegal slot machines in the north-central Missouri county. Torch Electronics, meanwhile, is suing the state for harassment over state police seizures of the machines placed in gas stations.
In November, the AGA filed a comment with the U.S. Justice Department calling for the prosecution of illegal machine manufacturers.
“While regulated gaming machines undergo rigorous testing to ensure game integrity and fairness, there is no such oversight for these illegal or unregulated games,” the AGA said in its filing. “Nor do the machines comply with anti-money laundering or cybersecurity standards established by relevant governing bodies. Unfortunately, illegal and unregulated machines continue to skirt the law and put consumers at risk.”
