Interactive map: Where, how many gambling machines are at Kentucky Lottery retailers
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Gambling invaders
Slots are illegal in Kentucky, but the makers of these machines have found a loophole and games are pouring into the state without much regulation or approval from lawmakers.
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When Kentucky Lottery representatives returned to the field in the spring of 2021, they began seeing a new kind of gambling machine in some retail locations.
They began keeping track of where the machines were and how many they encountered. So far, the “skill games” or “gray slot machines” are in more than 60 counties across the commonwealth with more appearing every time the representatives go out, Kentucky Lottery president and CEO Mary Harville told lawmakers in November.
There are two main skill game makers in Kentucky at the moment: Pace-o-Matic, which operates the Burning Barrel games, and Prominent Games, which operates Wildcat Skill.
Both say they have hundreds of machines in operation and that they are legal, even though there is no state regulation and no taxes other than income taxes.
Opponents, including Kentucky Lottery officials, say the games are an illegal form of gambling that will impact the money raised by legal gaming for college scholarships, charitable non-profits and the state’s horse industry.
“Our estimate, based on the rate we’re seeing is that within a year we’ll probably have several thousand (machines) in our state,” Harville told lawmakers in November. “All legal gaming including the Kentucky Lottery, faces a tremendous threat from these machines.”
As of mid-January, here’s where the skill games have been seen at Kentucky lotto ticket retailers. There also are machines in locations that are not lottery retailers, including bars and restaurants.
This story was originally published January 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
