City mayor rejects video gambling in Riverside

Mayor Kathy Rose has announced she considers machines to be slots and wants to ban video gambling in Riverside.

US.- Video gambling machines may be in trouble in Riverside, Missouri, as the city mayor is pushing to ban them. Mayor Kathy Rose wants to prevent the state legislature from allowing them in different retailers to take effect in her city.

A recent bill passed the Missouri state senate and would allow machines to be placed at retailers with liquor licences. Therefore, restaurants and bars would be able to offer video gambling in Riverside and the Mayor isn’t happy about it.

“(Casinos) have security all day and they have somebody with the gaming commission on the floor,” Rose told KMBZ. “They get people the help that they need or they ban them off the boats, or whatever.”

She had already travelled to Jefferson City to push against the legislation but failed. Mayor Rose argued that the decision would result in job cuts at Argosy Casino, which is pushed video gambling.

According to Rose, video gambling in Riverside wouldn’t generate additional revenue but would just redistribute the existing money gambled on the current offering.

Do machines threaten the Missouri Lottery?

According to Senator Dave Schatz, the Missouri Lottery may be in jeopardy due to the proliferation of video lottery terminals (VTLs). The machines have bloomed across the state but the lawmaker has said they are illegal and explained they’ve cost the Missouri Lottery Commission US$3.2 million in sales over the last six months.

Earlier in March, Schatz said: “Recently, Illinois legalised the machines, and now they are spreading to our state. Even as Missouri law has not been changed to allow VLTs,”

“These are games of chance with cash payouts that clearly seem illegal to me. However, companies pushing VLTs call them ‘grey machines’ instead of what they really are and that is ‘black market.’ ”