Video gambling is thriving in Georgia despite the state's decade-old ban on what's commonly known as video poker.
No one can say for certain how much money video poker is generating in Georgia, though one county sheriff said he knows of single machines that have grossed $50,000 in a week. Some speculate video poker payouts might be impacting how much the scholarship-granting $3.5 billion Georgia Lottery collects.
Local law enforcement, which is chiefly responsible for policing video poker, says prosecutions are difficult because the machines are legal but the payouts are not.
Often hidden in a back corner of a convenience store, players stuff dollar bills into the video games. Their wish is for the right combination of symbols that will earn them an illegal payout of hundreds or thousands of dollars. But like any type of gambling, players often walk away with nothing. Left behind, say gambling opponents, is often rent and grocery money.
"It has to be stopped before it becomes an epidemic," said DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James. "It's a dangerous thing."
In Wednesday's newspaper, the AJC takes a deep look at Georgia's efforts to stop video poker. It's a story you'll get only by picking up a copy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution or logging on to the paper's iPad app. Subscribe today.
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