Earlier this week, Rhode Island racetrack Twin River installed video blackjack machines. Only a few machines were online and more are expected to be on their way. Five players sit at a table and their moves are simulated with a dealer is on a video screen. With the installation of the video blackjack games the Twin River received almost double in daily income from just one of the video slots.
These games however did raise some concerns. Many were questioning whether or not the machines fell within the constitutional requirements for a public vote on all new “type” of gambling within Rhode Island. Both Twin River’s owners and the Lottery officials felt that the machines did not fall within the requirements for a public vote and the Governor had no objections.
The Attorney General, Patrick C. Lynch, sent a letter to Lottery Lawyer Robert Silva stating his stance on the subject. Lynch sent the Deputy Attorney General and the chief of his civil division to visit Twin River and see the game machines. They personally inspected the machines and compared them to the betting machines that were already in place. “It is our opinion that the multi-station machines we examined are not a different ‘type’ of gambling from that already approved for and used at Twin River. Indeed these machines are clearly Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) in that they each utilize a microprocessor and video display to dispense free games or credits that can be redeemed for cash.”
“It is undisputed that the state’s gaming facilities have for some time utilized several different styles of VLT, but the common factor in all of these machines is the use of a microprocessor and a video display. Therefore, I agree with you that a style variation in a machine that otherwise satisfies the statutory definition of VLT does not mean that it is a different type of gambling,” he wrote to Silva.
The racetrack has a license for 4,752 seats for video-slot and blackjack players. With the addition of the new virtual blackjack machines the total number of seats available at the racetrack is now 4,741.



- 2007-12-21