Maine Looking for OK
for Poker Machine
November 28, 2009
The state of Maine is trying to get poker legalized, but it is not going
as smoothly as they would have hoped. Hollywood Slots, the casino that I in
the heart of Bangor in Maine, is trying to bring in new slot machines, and
are having a hard time getting that request honored. The state says that it
isn’t about them trying to bring in more slot machines; it is about them
trying to bring in poker.
The casino is trying to bring in slot machines that are very much like poker
games, which is why there is a problem. The casino says that they should be
allowed to bring them in as they are just slot machines, and that they are
no different from any of the other gambling machines that they are already
offering in their casino. They want the Gambling Control Board to simply
approve their request to bring in the new games and swap them out for some
of their older ones.
However, the Gambling Control Board disagrees with that assessment. They say
that the slot machines that they are trying to bring in are not the same –
that they are in fact poker machines. They say that they do not have the
right to approve that kind of machine as it is not what the voters allowed
in. They say that to bring in poker games that they are going to have to get
permission from the legislation in the state – not from them.
They have so far held off on a decision on the poker machines, they say that
they need to discuss it further. They are very divided on the topic with
some board members siding with the casino and others against.
