Oregon has announced new rules that allow up to six people at a time to use video lottery machines in restaurants or bars, but only if no food is being served.
It is the first time in many weeks that the businesses were able to turn on the machines at all.
The owner of Seaside bar Bridge Tender told KGW8 News, “You really want those things humming and people on them. It makes or breaks you, really. It’s, I would say, half of the income, if not more at times.”
The VLTs are big business in Oregon. According to Chuck Baumann, spokesman for the Oregon Lottery: “We’ve had a run of 13, 14, 15 years maybe that we’ve had over a billion dollars in sales total.” The machines generate about 70 percent of the state lottery’s revenue. Revenues have fallen 6 percent this year over last.
Lottery money is disbursed to education, parks, veterans programs etc. This is produced through about 8,700 machines.
