Kanawha County woman sues gambling machine distributor, retailer

Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2000 | 9:38 a.m.

The woman, who is identified in legal papers only as R.M., filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court Friday.

She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from Jerry W. and Barbara Derrick, individually and doing business as Derrick Music Co., and Clay Holding Co., doing business as Clay Mart Food Stores.

Video poker machines, known as "gray machines" because a gray area of state law permits their use for entertainment but prohibits payouts, operate in bars, restaurants and convenience stores in West Virginia. The machines are unregulated.

"The defendants have for decades operated illegal gambling through the use of video gaming machines" the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit accuses the businesses of marketing the machines as gambling devices, "notwithstanding public denials to the contrary."

The Derricks and officials of Clay Holding Co. were not immediately available for comment.

R.M. claims the machines are designed "to facilitate attracting and creating gambling addicts."

The lawsuit also accuses machine owners of determining how often a player may win, mocking the machines' reputation as games of chance.

"Instead of mimicking the odds of the particular game being played, the machines amount to a computer-controlled 'stacked deck' that mimics the odds set by the operator as the payout rate, " the lawsuit states.

Officials of the state Alcohol Beverage Control Administration have cited two businesses in Putnam County and South Charleston for allegedly paying illegal winnings from the machines.

Cabell County sheriffs' deputies also have charged a business owner with illegally paying cash prizes on video poker machine games.

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