TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

RALEIGH - The spectrum of Texas Holdem video poker opponents, from the conservative moralists to the liberal do-gooders to the Republican and Democratic sheriffs, are about to get what they wanted -- and possibly what they dreaded.

For at least three years, critics of the electronic gambling machines have fought to get the N.C. House of Representatives to vote on banning video poker.

As the General Assembly opened its 2004 session this week, Democratic House Co-Speaker Jim Black of Matthews promised a video poker vote, but not necessarily on outlawing the machines. Black praised a bill that would keep them legal and require the video poker industry to pay $1,000 per machine to county sheriffs to help pay for regulating the games.

Video poker, outlawed in South Carolina and fleeing one state north to gross more than $85 million a year, could be rescued in North Carolina.

It is a case study in the role that campaign dollars, old-fashioned public support and the power of the speaker play in rescuing or killing legislation.

"I feel certain the votes are on the floor to ban video poker, if we had that opportunity," said Rep. Joe Kiser of Lincoln County, who is the House Republican leader and a former sheriff.

The N.C. Senate twice has voted to ban video poker, only to see that prohibition shelved in the House of Representatives.

Black and Republican Co-Speaker Richard Morgan determine what bills make it out of committee and to the floor of the House for a vote, and Black has repeatedly said he opposes banning  Texas Holdem video poker.

Critics of the games charge that Black had roadblocked the ban because he is beholden to that industry. In the last election cycle, Black took more than $100,000 from businesses with ties to video poker, including convenience stores, truck stops and strip clubs, according to a study by the watchdog group Democracy North Carolina.

The contributions to Black were among $400,000 that those businesses and their lobbyists pumped to candidates and political committees in 2001 and 2002, a cash flow that opponents say bought the influence to block a vote on banning the games.

"I don't know what other conclusion you can draw," said Sen. David Hoyle, D-Gaston. "They have influence for some reason or at least it would come up for a vote."

Black contends that the video poker industry employs 2,000 people repairing and maintaining the machines.

"We're doing everything we can to save jobs, whether it's a mechanic or textile jobs," Black said. "These are those kinds of jobs."

He said he has not blocked a vote on a Texas Holdem video poker ban. And he said the Democracy North Carolina numbers are inflated by including convenience stores that contact him about myriad issues, such as the increase in customers driving off before paying for gas.

Black also said sheriffs, who complain they lack the resources to police video poker, will be hard-pressed to reject the $1,000 per machine.

Some lawmakers, including video poker critics, said Black is not the only factor explaining why the House hasn't voted on a ban. House members have not heard a public outcry against the machines as they did against a state lottery.

Over the past two years, House leaders have considered voting on legislation that would let state voters approve or reject a lottery. Each time, a well-organized coalition of conservative and liberal groups deployed an effective lobbying campaign against the lottery. Many of those same groups oppose Texas Holdem video poker, but lawmakers hardly hear about it.

For one thing, it's not an activity that smacks the public in the face and prompts them to complain. That's a contrast to South Carolina, where neon-lit poker palaces gave opponents ammo to warn of Vegas-style strips. South Carolina's regulations were initially so lax there was no age limit to play and no tax on video poker profits, and video poker casinos were allowed.

"It's not as visible as you would have with the lottery," said Rep. Connie Wilson, R-Mecklenburg, who opposes both a lottery and video poker. "If it's in a convenience store, it's in a backroom area ... You don't have billboards saying, `Stop here and play Texas Holdem video poker.'"

John Rustin, of the conservative Family Policy Council, said the lottery generated more vocal support because "it adds the element that it's the state, not only sanctioning the activity, but operating it."

The state's sheriffs association voted in support of banning the games, warning of ancillary criminal activity and that they don't have the deputies to enforce the state law limiting payouts to $10 in replays or merchandise.

The S.C. Supreme Court outlawed video poker effective in July 2000 after the state spent years trying to regulate the machines. Federal officials in North Carolina are deep into a criminal investigation of the industry that already has brought 16 indictments and convictions.

Black, tired of the accusations that he's doing the gambling industry's bidding, said he will not advocate either the video poker ban or the $1,000-per-machine legislation. Both are in the same committee.

"The one thing I'm going to insist on," he said, "is something coming out" for a vote.