North Carolina Governor rejects charity poker bill

Governor Roy Cooper rejected the proposed law, which cleared the House and Senate by 76-32 and 27-15 votes, respectively. Cooper cited machine gambling as the reason for turning away the measure that was introduced into the legislature in late March.

“Legitimizing charitable gambling in this way could give video poker a new way to infiltrate our communities,” Cooper, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Allowing the industry to masquerade as a charity could cause unintended permits to be issued, and without tough criminal penalties, enforcement would be difficult.”

 Other games that would have been allowed in the so-called “game night events” include roulette, blackjack and craps. Only nonprofit groups and their partners could run the games. Each group would have been allowed to have four casino nights per year.

 Under the bill, no games could be played for cash or cash prizes. Prizes would have been allowed only through a raffle, with any chips or tokens being exchangeable for tickets. Nonprofits are already allowed to conduct raffles, but not with Las Vegas-style gaming.

Despite the veto, the state still has the lottery and two casinos, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino. The latter opened just two years ago. Harrah’s Cherokee Casino has a 20-table poker room and is the only one of its kind in the state.