Ohio judge halts enforcement of ban on gambling machines

COLUMBUS (AP) — A judge stopped the state Friday from enforcing an order that prohibits bars and other businesses from using electronic gambling machines, lawyers in the case said.

Judge Guy Reece of Franklin County Common Pleas Court granted a temporary restraining order to Ohio Skill Games Inc., which distributes the game Tic-Tac-Fruit, in which bettors try to line up pieces of fruit on a video screen.

Attorney General Marc Dann plans to appeal the restraining order, spokeswoman Jennifer Brindisi said.

Dann issued this statement late Friday: “We expected the interests controlling illegal gambling in Ohio to do anything to protect their profits. 

“We will continue to fight for the people of Ohio who have demonstrated time and time again their opposition to gambling.  

These games are clearly unfair, deceptive and represent the types of abusive consumer business practices which Ohio’s consumer laws were designed to combat.”

William Meeks, an attorney for the distributor and owner Jeff Mayle, said the order was necessary to prevent “irreparable harm” as the issue is headed for a trial in another court to determine the legality of Tic-Tac-Fruit.

Gov. Ted Strickland authorized Dann on Wednesday to issue an emergency rule on the electronic gambling machines burgeoning at bars, storefronts and fraternal clubs.

Dann followed up by issuing 700 letters statewide ordering 50,000 of the machines shut down within the next three days.

Strickland said the number of machines he and Dann believe to be illegal under Ohio’s ban on games of chance has more than doubled from 20,000 to 50,000 in the past six months.

In June, Strickland and Dann proposed a bill banning cash prizes from electronic tabletop machines and placing a $10 cap on the value of one-time noncash prizes such as award tickets or prize vouchers at venues such as Chuck E. Cheese’s, Dave & Buster’s or Cedar Point.