Prosecutors and the police aren’t going to spend a lot of time helping people, or businesses, who got screwed over. That’s also true if somebody plays the machines and “wins” but the bar refuses to pay up. If somebody uses the machines to scam the bars, the bars don’t have much of a legal remedy. And that’s bad news for everyone involved. That means a lot of Wisconsin bars have these machines even though they’re technically illegal. If a bar has more than five machines, it’s a felony and it can be prosecuted (if it’s done the right way, with the right officials). But it’s a weird kind of illegal: if bars have five or less machines it’s only a misdemeanor and apparently there’s no prosecution for that misdemeanor. The problem, at least in the great state of Wisconsin, is that those video poker (and slot) machines are illegal in bars. He won more than $500 playing on the machines but the bar wasn’t paying up and he was wondering if there was anything he could do. Like when a drinking buddy of a friend tells me about his video poker dispute with the local bar.

And there’s often a connection between lawyers and poker, although I’m so bad at all forms of gambling I’ve never understood that link.īut there are other links between gambling and lawyers, usually when someone needs legal advice. Poker is in the news this week (for those of us obsessed with celebrity gossip) because Ben Affleck supposedly just got banned for life from playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Casino (he’s that good at counting cards). (1) don’t drink and drive (2) don’t buy anyone’s lines and (3) if you play the video poker machines, know that the odds are against you. TGIF! It’s Friday night and, if you’re going out to a bar this weekend, remember three things:

How to win video slot machines