Panel: Video Poker Games Are Illegal

If you see a video poker machine in a Georgia store, the state court of appeals says someone's already broken the law. The panel ruled that all current video poker machines are illegal based on a 2001 state law challenged by the amusement game industry.

Video poker machines sure have their share of enemies from cops and prosecutors to the families of players addicted to the games and the lure of illegal cash payoffs.

Machine owners have always insisted the games are for amusement only and should not be banned.

In 2001, the general assembly banned the games, convinced that the ban was the only way to fight illegal gambling.

A Cobb County judge decided a few years ago that some of video games actually complied with the law. Suddenly, the machines began to reappear in stores across this state.

This week, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that even those games should be considered illegal.

Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head filed the original case six years ago. Head said that if the amusement association fails to successfully appeal the ruling, he will give them a few days warning then start seizing any video poker machine left in Cobb County.

"We're going to start going out and taking possession of them, unless they get them out first," said Head.

No one from the Georgia Amusement Association returned calls for comment and there has been no word on whether they will appeal the latest blow to the industry.