A Wisconsin judge has upheld the right of convenience stores and other small businesses to offer slot-like video gaming machines that purport to feature an element of skill in the outcome of games.
The machines in question are video slot machines except for a preview feature that tells players the exact amount of money the player may win or lose on the next spin. The player may then choose to play or have their wager returned. The state Department of Revenue considered them illegal slot machines, and issued orders to remove the machines from retail locations in 2017.
The small business owners joined with Racine, Wisconsin-based JD Prime Games Kiosk, the game distributor, to file suit for the right to offer the machines. Judge Michael Piontek of Racine Circuit Court agreed with the plaintiffs, holding the games are not gambling devices, defined under Wisconsin law as “a contrivance which affords the player an opportunity to obtain something of value, the award of which is determined by chance.”
The judge held that strict interpretation of that law could make pinball machines and Pac-Man games illegal, because they offer an award of free or extended play.
“Here the player has to intentionally make a choice to ignore or not utilize a feature on a game with a known outcome,” Piontek wrote. “That intentional choice by a player does not change the basic, known outcome of the game.”
Piontek held that the fact of players ignoring the preview feature does not transform a video game intended as entertainment into a gambling machine.
