Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

Tic Tac Fruit could turn out to be a lemon for Ohioans if state legislators fail to do something about it and similar ''games of chance.'' Tic Tac Fruit is familiar to many in Trumbull County. It is a video gaming machine that looks and operates much like a video gambling machine. It gained popularity last year because its promoters, claiming it was not subject to the state's laws against gambling, opened up parlors with Tic Tac Fruit and similar machines in many areas of the state, including ours. Now, Treasure Island parlors in Warren, Austintown and Boardman, and other parlors in Lordstown, Cortland, Masury and Weathersfield house Tic Tac Fruit and similar games. The machines' promoters say they are not gambling devices because players affect the outcome - whether they win or lose. But late last year, a judge in Franklin County Common Pleas Court ruled that Tic Tac Fruit is a gambling device. He noted that the machines are programmed to guarantee that operators will make profits of 5 percent of the amount of money pumped into each device. That means that player skill is not the critical factor, the judge ruled. His ruling backs up the state Liquor Control Commission, which has banned Tic Tac Fruit and similar games in licensed bars. But the judge warned that new gaming machines - all designed to rake in money in large quantities from players - will be designed. That may make it more difficult for the courts to rule that such devices are illegal gambling machines, he said. Ohio Skill Games attorney Kurt Gearhiser said the company has already made improvements so that the games are more skill-based. Therefore, he said, the Columbus court ruling is irrelevant. That is why the legislature, not the court, needs to address the issue. Also, there are multiple versions of these games because manufacturers are constantly upgrading the machines. Officials must make certain they only seize versions that the court determined to be illegal. Again, the legislature could intervene and make all of them illegal. In November, Ohio voters said ''no'' to legalized machine gambling at racetracks and a few other locations. We believe they also want to prohibit electronic one-armed (or one-buttoned) bandits from masquerading as games. That makes it essential for legislators to take another look at Ohio's gambling laws and close loopholes that allow devices such as Tic Tac Fruit.