“Do we have access to the servers in Texas? Who is going to test these machines? It seems like it might be pretty cumbersome. If we certify a machine, once we leave, how hard is it to change software or flip a switch and have it change to something else? That would be a large task to try and regulate this.”
To get a job at an Ohio casino, all employees other than those in housekeeping and food service must pass a background check, be fingerprinted and submit an 18-page state application.
Top casino personnel must file a 66-page application requiring, among other things, the “names, residence addresses, dates of birth, and most-recent occupations of parents, parents-in-law, former parents-in-law, or legal guardians, living or deceased, as well as brothers and sisters and their spouses.” They must disclose their cash in the bank, vehicles and property owned, and all assets, pension and retirement accounts, loans and debts.
“No one can sell anything that is directly or indirectly regulated to games without being licensed in Ohio,” said Matt Schuler, executive director of the Ohio Casino Control Commission. “ You can’t sell table games, slot machines, playing cards, felt on the tables, bill changers and Arcade parts without going through the licensing-approval process.”
Slot machines and other games must meet 65 pages of standards and be inspected, tested and sealed by state agents, Schuler said.
By contrast, suppliers, owners and employees of Internet cafes do not have to submit to background checks. The machines and servers do not have to meet requirements, nor are they inspected.
Investigator Lockhart said he has watched gambling operators transform their businesses over the years to stay a step ahead of the law and keep the money rolling in.
When Ohio lawmakers slammed the door on instant-bingo parlors in 2003, the industry turned to so-called skill-based slot machines. When lawmakers clamped down on those games in 2007, operators found a new crack in the law and have been running slot-machine-like terminals they call sweepstakes. They feature dozens of game variations, including some that are nearly identical to video-poker machines found in casinos.
“The Senate is probably a little more regulation-leaning rather than banning,” said Sen. Dave Burke, R-Marysville, chairman of the Senate Government Oversight Committee, where the bill will be heard after the legislature’s spring break. “We’re going to have to work together to find common ground” and draft a bill that both parties can agree to.
Last week, the 8th District Court of Appeals upheld gambling convictions against a pair of sweepstakes-parlor owners in Cleveland, ruling that the businesses operated like casinos and were illegal. The owners planned to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Lockhart said state investigators are not permitted to formally inspect the sweepstakes parlors because alcohol is not consumed there. But he and other agents have checked out some places and found that in the southeastern Ohio district, a lot of those that call themselves sweepstakes parlors are running straight slot machines. In other areas of the state, the businesses tend to be more sweepstakes terminals.
The only way he and other agents can take action, Lockhart said, is if there is an agreement with local law enforcement.
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