North Carolina Rules Against Skill-Based Sweepstakes Games

Background of the Legal Dispute

The decision targets sweepstakes kiosks in Robeson County, with a direct impact on No Limit Games, a Greensboro-based manufacturer. This ruling follows years of legal and regulatory efforts to curb the proliferation of video poker and slot machines disguised as skill-based games.

Since 2006, North Carolina has prohibited electronic sweepstakes machines awarding prizes based on chance. Manufacturers, however, have adapted their products repeatedly to skirt the law, leading to a prolonged legal back-and-forth between regulators and operators.

Arguments for Skill-Based Classification

Manufacturers and operators argue that their games rely on player skill rather than chance, distinguishing them from traditional gambling products.Small businesses hosting these machines also cite economic benefits as a reason to allow their continued operation.

Judge Jefferson Griffin, dissenting from the majority opinion, supported a prior ruling by Superior Court Judge Michael Stone. Griffin maintained that games requiring skill could be lawful, provided they meet the criteria.

Court’s Decision and Key Findings

The appellate judges, however, sided with the majority opinion that these games are fundamentally games of chance. Judge Toby Hampson cited specific examples where purported “skill elements” in the games were unwinnable, undermining claims of skill-based gameplay.

Hampson noted that features like memory games included to extend gameplay were intentionally designed to be impossible to win. This, he argued, reinforced the classification of such machines as games of chance.

No Limit Games’ Response

No Limit Games, the manufacturer at the center of the case, plans to challenge the ruling further. The company’s legal team remains optimistic and intends to escalate the matter to North Carolina’s highest court.