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G-Rated Gambling30 June 2001Leading authority on gambling law, Professor I. Nelson Rose, considers a new controversy for legal gaming: are some slot machines overly attractive to children. In October, 1999, the Nevada Gaming Commission declared its increasing unhappiness over gaming devices with cartoon themes. Since then, various amendments and regulations have been passed prohibiting slot machines with themes derived from products marketed to children. The enormous success of Wheel of Fortune® and others has led manufacturers to look for other well-know brand-names. Since many of our most well-known trademarks, such as Monopoly®, come from our childhood, the controversy was inevitable. Rose considers the many issues regulators face: “It would be natural to think the first question to be resolved is whether the problem really exists This is not as easy as it seems. Exactly how does one discover whether children are being unduly enticed into gambling by machines with themes? What is the standard? Would it be enough to show that merely one child in the country put money into a particular slot machine? How do we prove that the child would not have made the bet, but for the lure of the brand name? It is very difficult to show that something is true beyond any doubt, like the claim that certain games create underage gambling. But it is nearly impossible to prove the opposite, that something is not true. What evidence would you use to show a slot machine is not unduly attractive to children?” Since gambling is illegal for anyone under age, Rose askes if it is necessary to have a prohibition on these games at all? How to define which games are prohibited is extremely complicated. A rule that simply lists cartoon characters and other children’s attractions, will not work as there are too many and they are constantly changing. Since gambling is such a sensitive issue, regulators will probably prefer to be overly cautious. In the meantime, the Nevada Gaming Commission is working hard to clarify this potentially explosive issue and it seems we will not see any Pokemon® slot machines in the near future, at least. |