West Virginia's Mini-Casinos

Kanawha County plans to hold public hearings next month so residents can weigh in on the 157 bars and clubs that together host 731 video lottery machines in the county.

Officials there hope to catch the attention of the Legislature, but lawmakers tell The Associated Press that they're highly unlikely to do anything about these mini-casinos until their licenses come up for renewal in 2011.

The AP's Vicki Smith also notes the revenues that flow from these machines to the state _ for Promise scholarships, schools and economic development funding _ and to county and local governments across state government.

The article also cites the 2001 law that created this arm of the state lottery system, by outlawing the infamous video poker "gray machines."

(At least one reader earlier questioned some of the representations made about gray machines. The AP article draws from a census conducted by the State Police in early 2001. It found 13,519 of these machines at 2,645 locations statewide. The video lottery system, as of August, had 8,178 video lottery terminals at 1,658 locations.

These gray machines operated in places well beyond the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration-licensed clubs and bars to which they are now limited. The census found them in grocery and convenience stores, video rental stores, bowling alleys and pool halls and, yes, even laundromats.

These machines were widely believed to pay out illegally. By way of comparison, the machines operating legally grossed $397 million during the last fiscal year.)

The Journal of Martinsburg also delves into the video lottery issue. Berkeley County officials expect the machines to deliver $311,000 in revenue this year, and they tell The Journal "that’s fine by them."