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Non-Tech : Littlefield Corporation (LTFD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nittany Lion who wrote (7636)	2/27/1998 9:03:00 AM
From: Nittany Lion	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10368

I do love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning: Video gaming opponent makes money off lottery Friday, February 27, 1998 Associated Press ÿÿÿÿ COLUMBIA - State Sen. Greg Ryberg, who leads the Senate fight to ban video gambling in South Carolina, acknowledged Thursday he makes money off gamblers just across the state line by selling Georgia Lottery tickets at his convenience stores there. ÿÿÿÿ Ryberg, R-Aiken, is the primary sponsor of a Senate bill to outlaw video gambling. GOP Gov. David Beasley also is pushing for the ban. ÿÿÿÿ A House member called Ryberg a hypocrite and other legislators questioned how he can reconcile his video gambling stance with his lottery business. Ryberg, however, said video gambling is far more addictive than the lottery. ÿÿÿÿ "The issue is video poker in South Carolina. The issue isn't Greg Ryberg in Georgia," he said. ÿÿÿÿ Ryberg is chief executive of R&H Maxxon Inc., according to documents in the Georgia secretary of state's office. He said the company's 12 Food Depot stores in Georgia sell lottery tickets and scratch-off cards but said there are no video gambling machines in any of his 48 shops in Georgia or South Carolina. ÿÿÿÿ He said the money his company makes off lottery tickets is "insignificant," but Ryberg said he did not know specifics. ÿÿÿÿ Retailers get 5 cents for every $1 lottery ticket they sell, Georgia Lottery spokeswoman Vicky Gavalas said. They also get a 2 percent bonus for cashing prizes under $600, and a minimum $10,000 bonus for selling a winning jackpot ticket. The largest bonus has been $110,000, Gavalas said. ÿÿÿÿ Before 1992, Ryberg said his South Carolina stores had video gambling machines, but he had them removed. "I saw the devastation," he said. Some employees stole from the stores and spent the money on video poker, Ryberg said. ÿÿÿÿ "It's the most insidious, most addictive means of gambling that I've ever seen," he said. ÿÿÿÿ Unlike Ryberg, legislators who want a statewide vote on video gambling don't distinguish between that and the lottery, which Georgia uses to help fund education. ÿÿÿÿ Ryberg's stance is hypocrisy "at its highest peak," said Rep. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia. "Why does he condone gambling in Georgia but refuses in South Carolina? In South Carolina, for political reasons, he can't justify having poker machines in his place of business. So for political reasons he doesn't want the competitor across the street having them." ÿÿÿÿ Ryberg said that was "Nonsense. Absolutely ludicrous." ÿÿÿÿ "Gambling is gambling," said Senate Majority Leader John Land, D-Manning, who has vowed a filibuster to block the proposed video gambling ban. "One's as bad as the other, if that's how you're looking at it." ÿÿÿÿ Senate President Pro Tem John Drummond, D-Ninety Six, also owns convenience stores without video gambling machines and is working with Ryberg to outlaw the machines. He refused to comment on Ryberg's lottery ticket sales. ÿÿÿÿ Trey Walker, state Republican Party executive director, said the Georgia lottery is not the same as video gambling in South Carolina. ÿÿÿÿ "Video poker serves no purpose in this state other than to destroy families," Walker said. "They see it differently in Georgia. They see it as a way to pay for Gov. (Zell) Miller's HOPE scholarships." Gary ÿÿÿÿ