Eight-Liner Machines

The Texarkana Gazette editorial took aim at Eight-Liner machines and the Chuck E. Cheese law in this morning's Texarkana Gazette. Locally, it's believed that many of these arcades that have eight-liner machines are paying out cash prizes in violation of Arkansas law, which in turn takes legal money away from local charities via the legal bingo parlors around the area (mostly on the Arkansas-side because of the setup of the two states' laws). There is some validity to this. These cases are difficult to prosecute, and there may be a tweak in the law to help clarify what types of machines should be legal (which includes, in my opinion, the arcade games in Chuck E. Cheese and other places), and what shouldn't. The problem comes when arcade owners pay out cash for winning prizes on any type of machine. The only way I know to curtail that activity is to increase the fines and/or the punishment for doing it. It is already a violation of Arkansas law, and perhaps the legislature needs to give law enforcement some teeth to use with these arcades. Ark. Code Ann. §5-66-103 already makes "keeping a gambling house" a Class D felony.