Two anti-gambling groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday that seeks to shut down state-run video slot machines across the state.

The petition, filed in Kanawha Circuit Court by the Coalitions against Gambling Expansion in Cabell and Greenbrier counties, asked that video gambling machines be “permanently barred.” Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib will hear the case.

Larry Harless, a Jackson County lawyer representing the two coalitions, also alleged in the petition that gambling is an economic threat and that the West Virginia Lottery is not properly enforcing existing laws.



As of Wednesday afternoon, state Lottery officials had not seen the legal petition, which named the Lottery and its director, John Musgrave, as defendants.

West Virginia currently has 14,324 legal video lottery machines: 5,275 machines in bars and restaurants and 9,049 at the state's four racetracks in Nitro, Wheeling, Chester and Charles Town.

The state's revenue from these machines has increased by 41 percent during the current fiscal year, according to Eliza Hall, the Lottery's deputy director for video lottery.

Gambling leaders in West Virginia have recently said they want to allow table games, such as poker, blackjack and baccarat, in the state. Delegate Joe DeLong, D-Hancock, who is employed by Mountaineer Race Track in Chester, said this week he would amend a workers' compensation bill in the Legislature to allow such games.

He and other lawmakers have said the state's money from the games could help eliminate the growing deficits at the Workers' Compensation Division.

“It frightens me when any issue of gambling is in the hands of our legislators,” Paula McLaughlin, treasurer of the Greenbrier County Coalition Against Gambling Expansion said Wednesday. “All rules go out the window.

“I don't understand why they expand gambling, with all the documented adverse effects about the expansion of gambling. There is not one state really well off financially that has widespread gambling. Why doesn't this ring a bell? Why doesn't this sink in?” asked McLaughlin, who helped lead a successful county political campaign to keep a casino out of The Greenbrier resort.

Harless said gambling proceeds now make up a higher percentage of West Virginia's budget than the budget of any other state.

The petition filed on Wednesday states that the Lottery Commission has not followed the state law that requires all owners of video slot machines to display a player's odds of winning money and the machine owner's cut of all money wagered.

The state Lottery also fails to require video slot machine owners to obey a law requiring them to post a label on each machine to help people who may have a gambling addiction, according to the lawsuit

Individuals working with the two anti-gambling coalitions recently visited more than 80 sites with video poker machines, Harless said: “None were complying with all the posting requirements of these state laws.”

The legal petition also says Musgrave and the state Lottery are violating state law by engaging in illegal “advertising and promotional activities to entice and induce persons to gamble, or gamble more.”

The petition also notes that payouts by video poker machines are “rigged ... to ensure that over time, almost all players lose their money.”

Harless believes the legal arguments have a major economic component.

“Gambling is a Judas goat that leads the economy astray. We need to force legislators to focus upon this, upon what gambling does to the economy and well-being of the state.”