A North Carolina Appeals Court recently ruled a so-called “fish table” video gambling game is a game of chance, and businesses offering Ocean Fish King and similar games are breaking the law.
The case originated in Catawba County, where law enforcement has been battling businesses offering fish tables for several years. Fun Arcade and Barracuda Ventures, which provide the games, were appealing a trial court decision in favor of the Hickory and Conover police chiefs.
The object of a fish table is to manipulate a joystick to shoot fish moving on a video screen. One shot equals placing a wager.
At the hearing, an expert hired by the police chiefs stated the fish table video screen is so crowded with fish it’s impossible not to hit one. However, he said there’s no pattern to hitting the fish. Because players cannot rely on experience or strategy to improve play, a fish table is a game of chance.
The two companies’ hired expert said Ocean Fish King is a game of skill because it depends on player dexterity. He argued players could indeed learn the game’s patterns and novice players could improve over time.
The Appeals Court judges based their ruling in part on a 2022 state Supreme Court decision in which the justices declared games that resemble video slot machines were games of chance and violated state law. The defendants were Gift Surplus, an online retailer that promotes video sweepstakes, and Sandhill Amusements, which places video game kiosks into convenience stores and retail establishments where customers primarily are low-income, according to the court’s opinion.
The ruling also noted it was the third time the companies brought their case to the state supreme court “seeking to avoid liability under North Carolina’s ban on video sweepstakes.”
Over the years, the companies modified the game to try to convince courts it was legal. The state Supreme Court ruled modifications still did not make it a game of skill.
Video gambling machine supporter state Rep. Harry Warren has said regulating the games would help eliminate illegal operators. Under Warren’s House bill 512, a portion of legal machines’ revenue would go to state Historically Black colleges and universities and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and community college loans.
Warren added the games would be placed in approved locations. He said, “We’re not targeting low-income neighborhoods. We can actually avoid that from happening. We can take responsibility for where these machines are at.”
House Speaker Tim Moore has indicated the Republican House caucus supports video lottery terminals. Observers said expanded gambling is a possibility in the near future, since the Republican majority legislature voted overwhelmingly this year to legalize online sports betting and now are considering allowing casinos in Nash, Anson and Rockingham counties plus a Lumbee Tribe venue.
