Not Slots
Vending-machine sweeps got the go-ahead in California in May through a LosAngeles Superior Court ruling that machines running sweepstakes aren’tgambling devices.
The ruling lets Bingo & Gaming International, Austin TX, put its phonecardvending machines in bars, pool halls, and truck stops across the state.
Bingo’s vendor looks like a slot machine, but its instant-win sweeps islegit. A consumer puts in $1 and the machine prints out a two-minutephonecard with a sweeps ticket attached. While it’s printing, slots-styleicons spin; a matched set wins $1 to $1,000. Winners redeem the sweepsticket at the venue’s cashier.
To play without purchase, consumers request a scratch-off card by mail,then redeem winning cards directly with Bingo. A receptacle on the side ofeach machine holds postage-paid mailers for non-purchase entries. Odds areposted on the machine.
The sweepstakes is “just like McDonald’s or Coke’s,” says Bingo presidentReid Funderburk. “They’ve put a lot of money and effort into making suretheir sweepstakes can run nationally. Ours is based on theirs. If theirsare legal, ours is legal, too.”
The company could hit $8 million to $10 million in sales this year and keepdoubling sales for the next four years by adding machines, Funderburk says.”How many pool halls and bars are there in North America? Places are dyingfor our products.” The company has 400 machines in six states, mostlicensed to vending operators. Contracts in California could ring upsecond-half sales of $3.6 million, the company projects. Pendinglegislation and distributor deals in other states will expand the phonecardnetwork even wider.
