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Governor Riley of Alabama took some criticism last year. Riley made a bet with Florida Governor Charlie Crist over a football game. He ended up paying off the bet, but it opened a slew of problems for him. Riley has been a strong critic of bingo gambling in his state. He has long petitioned against the games, believing them to be illegal. As with any state, Alabama is drawn sharply on two sides regarding gambling. There is one side who has been gambling for years on video and bingo machines. They believe it is too late to pull the plug on games now, after years of operating. On the other hand is the group who believes bingo gambling is detrimental to society as a whole and will inevitably increase crime, money laundering, addictions and the overall cost to sustain it.

Riley was a critic who worked hard to keep the games out of the state. Part of the problem was that Riley set himself up as a strong opponent of betting and gambling of any kind. He took the staunch side of anti-gambling, citing that it should never be allowed. Then, he made a public bet himself.

Once Riley lost the bet to Crist, he knew there were problems. Despite reservations, he paid off the bed to Crist. That opened the door to a barrage of critics saying that Riley is a hypocrite. He doesn’t want gambling and has spent so much time decrying it to the public, but then he makes bet himself. Alabama residents have been shocked with Riley’s efforts to take away their bingo halls. Riley has set up a task force to seek out these “illegal” gambling establishments, and confiscate the video machines the bingo was being played on. After Riley’s bet, many voters became disgruntled, drawing comparisons between bingo gambling and football gambling. One of the disgruntled residents even pointed out that bingo is legal in some states, while sports’ gambling is illegal in all states except for Nevada and Delaware. Now that Riley has partaken in gambling, it is going to be hard to go back and erase the mistake. It also will be hard for him to remain in the fight against bingo gambling.

North Carolina is in the midst of debates over video gambling. Like many other states it is looking for new revenue generating activities to shore up coffers. The recession had an adverse affect on all jurisdictions. Spending was down due to the heightened unemployment rate and economies suffered greatly. Now that the recession is over, markets are still in the midst of clean-up. They are trying to come up with funds and gambling keeps coming up as a viable option. Though there are sides to the issue fighting vehemently, it looks like one court battle after another is dictating how monies will be found.

This past Tuesday gambling operators in North Carolina heard a court ruling they were not looking for. The Court of Appeals panel of three judges upheld a state-wide ban on video gambling machines. The legal battle began when the state banned video gambling machines around the state, but contradicted itself by allowing them on an Indian reservation. The mixed message was what operators took task with and Superior Court Judge Howard Manning agreed. He ruled that the state could not ban the machines, but allow them at tribal casinos.
Although there was a victory for gaming operators, later Manning put a stay on his ruling. Unfortunately, the appeals court overturned the decision. Senate leader Marc Basnight said, “This is great news. We worked for so long to try to rid our state of this awful industry. I am very pleased that the Court of Appeals decision will uphold the ban passed by the General Assembly.” The state is now embroiled in the issue of whether or not to allow video slot machines. It is also setting the stage for other state’s battles over the issue. Alabama is the next state weighing in on the topic of video gambling. Many operators have already challeneged former rulings and are hoping to turn things around in a battle with the Supremem Court. Regardless of what happens, the reality is that video gambling is causing a huge stir in markets throughout the US. Only time will tell whether or not it is allowed or banned.