North Carolina Votes Tomorrow on Video Poker Machines

Monday, June 5, the long war against video poker machines may come to a close in the southern state of North Carolina. The state Senate is expected to vote tomorrow on a bill that, if passed, would ban video poker machines in North Carolina by the summer of 2007. Since 2000, the Senate has approved a ban five times but has been blocked from turning it into law. This time it may happen, as the House has already approved the measure by a vote of 114 to 1, the lone vote cast against the bill by a representative who wanted an outright ban instead of the phasing out system.House Speaker Jim Black has been criticized for not supporting the ban in the past, and some believe that this phasing out structure of the new bill is just a way for Black to save face.