New gaming spot skirts around gambling laws with pre-reveal games – Staunton News Leader

STAUNTON Lesley Lester said Staunton was her special place growing up. It's where she would spend her summers away from her home state of Kentucky with her extended family.

Now, she's happy to have an adult gaming location in the city to bring another entertainment option for the public.

Big Valley Staunton is a new adult gaming spot (18-and-over) on Greenville Avenue. It opened last week and has been getting some regular business, Lester said.

She's still trying to fill the place with furniture, but it currently has several pre-reveal games for people to play. There's no alcohol served, but she does pass out soda to customers.

"Most of our patrons have been 50 and over ... professionals, nurses, just really good people looking for something to do," Lester said. "if you do not drink orfrequent the bar scene downtown, this is an alternative."

According to Lester, these games gained more popularity during COVID-19 when people avoided larger casinos or gambling places, opting for these small machines that were set up in gas stations or convenience stores.

In 2020,skill gaming were temporarily allowed before being banned in 2021. The goal was to help brick-and-mortar businesses, like convenience stores, bars and restaurants, and truck stops to offset revenue losses caused by the pandemic, according to an article by Casino.org.

Video gaming terminals, what can been seen at Lester's place, mimic the operations of a traditional slot machine theyre taxed and highly regulated, Casino.org said. Video gaming terminals are allowed outside of casinos in seven states:Illinois, Louisiana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, West Virginiaand Georgia, the article said.

These games in her store are different than skilled games that Virginia has seen in the past few years. Pre-reveal games have no chance, she said.

"They do not constitute gambling devices as defined under Virginia code," she said.

She's taking her own gamble with these games, because laws could change, much like what was seen with skilled games.

"Future legislation may significantly affect the manner in which the statutory forms reflecting this section may be defined or enforced. We do have to remain attentive to future proposed like legislation and stuff like that," she added."But so far, nothing. That's why they're popping up everywhere. If they were considered illegal, they would not be in all these gases. Nobody wants to $25,000 fine. They're not enforced by the agency yet either."

Lester said they are keeping a close eye on legislation.

"Where this one is considered a pre-reveal and not a game of chance. It's not a gamble if you know what's going to happen," she said. "So these are considered more adult games than actual gambling devices."

Previously, Waynesboro had a similar operation, but with skilled games. The Bank Arcade closed during COVID-19 and offered skilled gambling games and other arcade games for adults.

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As of July 1, skilled games were deemed illegal by the Virginia ABC.

According to GamblingSites.org, a skill game is similar to tradition slots, but can be more skill-based. Skill games can feature spinning reels, paylines and a high degree of chance but it does require some strategy, GamblingSites.org said.

For pre-reveal games, it'll show if you win the next bet.Pre-reveal games allow the customer to push a button to see if they will win in the next round. Lester says some customers jump around to several different games on the gaming machine to find a win with the pre-reveal button.

"Given that you already know if youll win or lose, pre-reveal games dont constitute traditional gambling," GamblingSites.org said.

Laura Peters is the trending topics reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses?Or a good feature? You can reach reporter Laura Peters (she/her) atlpeters@newsleader.com.Follow her@peterslaura. Subscribe to The News Leader at newsleader.com.

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New gaming spot skirts around gambling laws with pre-reveal games - Staunton News Leader