Nemacolin Slot Machine Rules Vague

The Nemacolin Woodlands Resort is trying to get a slot machine license. If they win one, the Legislature wants them to still be a resort first and a slot machine parlor second. The idea is that they would not become a full fledged slot machine casino; they would be a resort that offered slot machines.

However, many say that the wording to that effect is vague at best. Experts say that the state’s slots legislation is written so unclearly that if someone spends $25 at the resort they can play the slot machines; and that is not what the rule is intended to be. "It sounds like we're not talking wiggle room, we're talking whale room," said Michael Ross, a California lobbyist who looked over the state gambling law. "That means if I buy $25 worth of cigarettes or get a massage I can go to the casino."

Nemacolin says they just want to make slot machines one more thing that they can offer to their guests – along with things like clay pigeon shooting and off-roading. They want to bring 500 slot machines in which would bring in an estimated $45 million in gross revenues per year. However, experts say that the $25 rule has been circumvented before, and will be again.

The state’s law says that the resort can get a slot machine license only "upon the express condition that an individual may not enter a gaming area of the licensee if the individual is not a registered overnight guest of the established resort hotel or if the individual is not a patron of one or more of the amenities provided by the established resort hotel." However, that is where the $25 minimum payment to some part of the establishment comes in. If a customer spends “non-de minim is consideration” at any part of the resort, they can play the slot machines at the resort as well.

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