The North Carolina Supreme Court has upheld the law that bans video internet sweepstakes — what used to be video poker until the state outlawed video poker and the heartless fucktards who think steeling from people is a legitimate business changed the software so that the games were no longer poker but "sweepstakes ". Good for the judges. (Opinion here.)
These games are horribly misrepresented to the people upon whom they prey. Nobody plays them for "entertainment," as the industry claimed. People play them because they think they might win a lot of money when all that happens is they end up losing money. Of course, the odds are never revealed, even though, as the industry admits, the outcomes are predetermined before you even sit down to play.
If this was any other kind of consumer product, it would be banned as fraudulent and the operators jailed as thieves.
Some discussion had occurred with Greensboro City Council about possibly using licensing fees from the operations of these machines to help solve the perplexing funding problem of a proposed downtown performing arts center. Obviously, that's not going to happen now, making the financial picture for the PAC even murkier.
If run "properly" you could see your chances of winning along with what prizes were remaining - like legal sweepstakes or the state lottery.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt in my mind after playing one of the "sweepstakes" and working with the owners of one (now out of business) they were un-regulated versions of theft.
I would love to see these system run legally; but no one will do it because of the complexity.
Good points, Don. Thanks for making them.
ReplyDeleteThe sweepstakes shops prey on the desperate and uneducated. They offer false hope while taking money from families in need. In the same way we protect the public from scams and thieves, we need to protect them from sweepstakes shops.
ReplyDeleteThe gamer that loses his cash hurts the ones he loves and is more likely to steal to cover his losses.
Glad to see them gone!
Yes, right on Marty. What I was trying to say put more succinctly (and politely).
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