Former Senator Calls Video Poker Insidious

Former State Senator Mike Beatty says that gambling is here to stay, and that people will gamble on just about anything, but that the institution of video poker is the most insidious of all gambling institutions. The worst of the bunch are the video poker machines seen in the back of convenience stores, according to the one-term Republican Senator who represented Jackson County till 2004. Beatty was the one who led the charge against video poker machines in South Carolina, and he calls video poker the crack cocaine of gambling. Beatty's comments make news because the Video Poker Act is finally being implemented in the state.