For those that have been kind of hesitant to wade into the eight liner quagmire, is Hardy the green light they've been waiting for? I'm curious as to how other offices are going to address this ruling. In other words, will the eight liner parlors be given any sort of chance to voluntarily shut down or do the seizures and prosecutions now begin?

Aside from the fact that the people who own, offer, or play the eight-liners may have other interests in one's county or political clout on other issues, is there any rationale left for not immediately enforcing Chapter 47 offenses and asking for forfeitures of the devices and proceeds? The gambling should never have been tolerated. As soon as the resources are available to begin enforcing the law as written, they should be utilized. There is no "oops" defense. These people knew the risk of a Hardy interpretation from the day they first contemplated establishing their business. Why let them move the machines to some other place to do the same thing all over again? Plus, at least the gambling proceeds (if not the machines) could be used for a better purpose.

Now that the Supremes have shot down the 8-liner people, they've gone into high gear at the Capitol. On Thursday 4/10, House Licensing and Administration will hear four 8-liner-related bills -- check out the Legislative Page for more ...

We are not changing our view on 8-liners. It was our view all along that gift certificates are "cash". We only have one pending 8-liner case in our county and have successfully "ran-out" the others by this one case.

The only problem with not enforcing statewide is that the machines that left our county are being used in neighboring counties where they don't prosecute for the same reasons that Martin talked about above.

Hopefully, this case will change some attitudes!

The issue of sweepstakes machines is being discussed at the bottom. As a reminder, we still have plenty of documents for any prosecutors who would like complaints, informations, motions in limine, etc,. if you find yourself entering the wacky world of 8-liners!