Gambling in West Virginia: Video Raffles

The Legislature may be called upon to revisit state gambling laws, in the wake of a Tax Department crackdown on "charitable raffle ticket dispenser machines," The Associated Press reports.

Harrison County's prosecutor targeted 144 of the devices in a raid on a Clarksburg bingo hall. Tax officials have since fined the Elks lodge responsible for the machines $100,000 and moved to revoke their charitable gaming licenses.

Officials have also gone after the licenses of a Berkeley County group that's had 100 machines, fining it $50,000. But the prosecutor there believes the state's relevant laws and regulations are confusing and outdated.

"Video poker parlors have become big business," the AP article said, and "the $189.6 million netted in the budget year ending June 30, 2008 reflects an 8.3 percent increase over the prior year."

Raffle and bingo games, West Virginia's dominant gambling venues until the lottery began in 1986, has seen a notable drop in revenues since the arrival of "limited" video lottery. But Tax Department figures suggest they still gross more than $100 million annually statewide.