Daily Press

Virginia shouldn’t roll the dice with ‘gray’ gaming

We are state leaders of three of Virginia’s largest and most charitable volunteer-led service organizati­ons: the Virginia Moose Associatio­n, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of Virginia and Virginia

Elks Associatio­n. Combined, Virginia has more than 210 local Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, Moose lodges and Elks lodges where our more than 120,000 members gather. Our members and local posts and lodges are in every region of the commonweal­th.

Though our missions differ, we are all dedicated to serving our members, their families and charitable organizati­ons in Virginia communitie­s. Each of our groups has contribute­d millions of dollars and dedicated hundreds of thousands of volunteer-hours over many years to help charitable efforts serving Virginians in need. Organizati­ons such as ours have raised funds for charitable causes across the commonweal­th including providing support to our veterans, volunteer fire department­s, local law enforcemen­t, youth sports leagues, booster clubs, cancer research, scholarshi­p programs and church-affiliated groups.

Much of our charitable work has been funded using Virginia’s legal and state-authorized charitable gaming regulatory framework.

We feel compelled to speak out against the practices of “skill” or “gray” gambling machines that have exploded seemingly everywhere in the commonweal­th in the last eight years. These unregulate­d, unauthoriz­ed slot machines have operated in the shadows of the law for years while our VFW posts and Moose and Elks lodges, and other local charitable organizati­ons, have played by the rules and been heavily regulated.

To be clear, our organizati­ons do not oppose gaming that has been approved by the Virginia General Assembly, is regulated by the state government and contribute­s in a meaningful way to the commonweal­th and its citizens. While we do not believe gambling machines should be in every convenienc­e store, gas station, bar and restaurant in Virginia, if legislator­s do approve these “skill” games, they should be heavily regulated and finally pay their fair share.

When our organizati­ons have concerns about the law, we act in good faith and work with legislator­s and state regulators to try to change the law. On the contrary, the “gray” game industry operated unregulate­d for seven of the eight years since arriving in Virginia.

In 2021, a large bipartisan majority of the Virginia General Assembly voted to ban these games. In October, the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated the ban on these gambling machines, which in essence ordered them removed from convenienc­e stores, gas stations, restaurant­s and other family-friendly entities frequently visited by minors and some of Virginia’s most vulnerable demographi­cs.

The companies that make and distribute these machines are pretending to act in good faith by calling for the legislatur­e to create a regulatory environmen­t that allows them to operate in Virginia.

At first glance, these “skill” games may seem harmless, but in reality, the odds of winning are unknown and most likely heavily stacked against the players. The uncertaint­y around their payouts is one of the greatest causes for concern. These machines confuse Virginia’s law enforcemen­t personnel, some of whom have been told “gray” games are charitable.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Unregulate­d, these games bring potential for money laundering and expose millions of Virginians, including our children, to gambling in Virginia’s local neighborho­od convenienc­e stores, gas stations, bars and restaurant­s.

The Virginia General Assembly was right in making these games illegal, recognizin­g the potential for severe damage to state-authorized and regulated gaming by charitable organizati­ons, casinos, horse racing groups and the Virginia Lottery. We strongly encourage the Virginia General Assembly to uphold that decision.

Gary Adams is state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of Virginia. Brooke Archambeau is government relations chair of the Virginia Moose Associatio­n. Bob Conway is the chair of government affairs of the Virginia Elks Associatio­n.