Missouri to Replace No-Chance Machines with VLTs

For years, video gambling machines across Missouri have attracted customers at gas stations, convenience stores and other businesses. Gaining notoriety as no-chance machines, those devices do not use a random number generator, like slots do, but rather incorporate a number of different outcomes that often rotate. While the no-chance machines have operated for years in a legally gray area, that may soon change.

Proposal Calls to Legalize Video Lottery Terminals

Currently, there are no laws in Missouri that legalize the use of such video gambling machines. There’s also no regulation that prohibits the use of such devices, effectively enabling them to operate in a legal grey area. A new bill that was recently heard by lawmakers in Missouri may finally bring changes to the current framework, imposing regulations on video gambling machines.

That is the case for a proposal heard by the Missouri House Committee on Emerging Issues, the Columbia Missourian reports. Members of the Committee discussed Monday the development of a new regulatory system affecting video gambling machines.

This otherwise means that the popular no-chance machines will certainly be impacted. However, in reality, the proposal calls to effectively legalize video gambling machines, known as Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs), enabling them to replace the existing no-chance machines.

VLT Proceeds to Help Municipalities, Boost Funding for Education

In case lawmakers greenlight the proposal, Missouri’s Lottery Commission will have the authority to award licenses to game distributors and manufacturers. Operators will also face scrutiny and sill be subjected to license fees. While initially, a higher fee would apply, the license would be valid for five years and subsequent renewal fees would be lower.

Notably, the proposal seeks to collect proceeds from the activity and ensure compliance with the established framework. Under the bill that picked up speed recently, the operators of VLTs and retailers will each have to pay a $500 fee for every single machine. Of those proceeds, 20% would be dedicated to the State Lottery Fund, while the rest would benefit local municipalities where the VLTs are located. The remaining 80% will also benefit the Missouri Veterans Commission and provide funding to ensure the new regulations are enforced by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Proceeds from VLTs will also benefit the State Lottery Commission. Some 10% of the tax revenue collected by the Commission will fund the general revenue of the county where the machines are located while additional proceeds will benefit the Missouri State Lottery Fund. The aforementioned fund provides funding for education across the state. For the fiscal year 2024, the Fund dedicated more than $500 million to education programs in Missouri, including for elementary and higher education.

While the proposal will certainly bring changes to the gambling landscape in the state, it first needs to receive the approval of lawmakers. Unless the bill hits a snag, it may have plenty of time, considering the 2025 legislative session in Missouri started earlier this month.