Oregon Looking To Dip Into Bar Gambling Revenue Once Again

In the current economic conditions, it has become easy for individual state governments to become greedy. They are cutting financing to state projects, and are looking to dip further into the pockets of people who own businesses. That is certainly the case when it comes to bars that operate video gambling machines.

In Oregon, the state Lottery is preparing to discuss the option of dipping into revenue that bars and taverns are making on video gambling machines. What started as a smart business proposition back when the state allowed bar owners to keep thirty-five percent of winnings, has now become a burden.

The percentage that bar owners can keep has already dropped to twenty-three percent, and the Lottery is contemplating cutting it even further. The state is struggling for money, and that means that gambling revenue is the first area they attack.

"These bars thought they were getting a good deal when they fought to have the video gambling," said observer Harvey Frent, "but as the years have gone on, the state has taken more and more of their money, and it is getting to the point where it may not be worth the hassle to keep running the machines."

If the Lottery cuts the commissions paid to bar owners for these video gambling machine it would be the sixth time that it has happened since 1992, when the first gambling machines became legal. Still, some in the state believe the bars atnd taverns are making too much money.

"We've heard the same argument every time this comes up," said State Superintendent of Schools, Susan Castillo, "We've cut their commissions, and we have more bars and taverns with video lottery games than before."

August 18, 2009
Posted By April Gardner
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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