State lawmakers want to close what they say is another loophole in Pennsylvania's gambling law, one that has allowed businesses to offer "sweepstakes" contests that mimic casino games.
The House Gambling Oversight Committee this morning unanimously approved a measure to prohibit the creation of these so-called internet sweepstakes cafes .
From my breaking news story :
The businesses sell pre-paid long-distance phone cards or vouchers for internet time that customers can then use to play virtual games on terminals there to win cash. Offering games such as video poker, many of the options are identical to those offered at nearby casinos.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Randy Vulakovich, R-Shaler, said the establishments are unregulated, giving problem gamblers another option to feed their addiction and potentially reducing the revenue from the state's legitimate casinos.
Such storefront gambling cafes have popped up in Western Pennsylvania this year. Mr. Vulakovich declined to give the name of one whose ad he showed the panel, but noted its black-and-gold, Steelers-style motif.
It turns out Pennsylvania isn't the only state working on managing this new exception that some entrepreneurs have found in the gambling law. An astute reader pointed us to this Business Week story from April , which took a detailed look at those storefronts in Florida:
Inside a one-story building on the edge of a strip mall in Central Florida, Joy Baker calculates the sum total of her morning bets. It's almost noon, and she's down $5. Not bad. Her husband, Tony, sits a few feet away. "This is the most fun we've had in 20 years," says Joy, who is 78 and retired. "At our age, we can't hike. You can't pay him to go to the movies. This gives us a reason to get up in the morning."
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