LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Barring a court challenge, thousands of gaming machines with cash payouts that have popped up in bars, restaurants and truck stops around Kentucky will become illegal on July 1.
Gov. Andy Beshear signed House Bill 594 on Thursday, which outlaws what proponents call "skill games" and critics call "gray games." The machines with names like Burning Barrel and Wildcat have become popular and can generate thousands of dollars in income per month for the establishments.
"They're entirely unregulated. I don't believe that they were legal. Yet they came into Kentucky and just set up ... with zero regulation, zero taxation, zero system to help those who might have any issues," Beshear said Thursday.
Wes Jackson, a Lexington businessman and president of the coalition that backs the skill games, said the group is evaluating its options.
Beshear's signing of the bill means a court challenge is the only route left for proponents to preserve the games. The games are operating in Virginia after a judge temporarily blocked a law banning them from taking effect.
