LEGALIZED VIDEO POKER GAMING LOOKS INCREASINGLY LIKELY IN BALTIMORE.
Before the financial crisis truly hit home you’d find officials desperately trying to squash illegal video poker gambling. Now, with the economy in such a downward spiral, those same officials are feverishly trying to legalise the machines. In Baltimore, many varieties of legal betting can be carried out. Video poker gambling however is not one of these many but this is looking likely to change if Councilman Robert W. Curran has anything to do with it. Curran has proposed a $3,000 licensing fee on each and every one of these video poker machines.
"All you have to do is walk into one of these bars and ask the bartender how the machines work and they will tell you how to redeem your winning ticket for real cash, it is not a big secret that the machines are being played as slot machines." said Gary Briley. Baltimore officials agree with Briley's idea on the video poker machines. This is why Curran is attempting to still things up. Bar owners now have to pay a ten percent amusement tax on the machines.
Under Curran's plan, the city would between $3 to $5 million a year from taxing the machines. Many bar owners have voiced their approval of the idea and their willingness to pay the fee, however they feel that a guarantee that the city will not continue raid the bars for illegal gambling would be the decider on the issue.
