Gambling Regulators OK Rules for Electronic Games

Minnesota gambling regulators have approved guidelines for new electronic gambling devices that will help offset debt on a new Vikings football stadium.
    
The unanimous vote Monday by the Gambling Control Board lets makers of the hand-held devices begin designing them for use in Minnesota bars and restaurants. The stadium law authorized the introduction of electronic pull-tabs and linked bingo games to be sold alongside paper gambling now run by charities.

"While they might look like an iPad or a laptop type computer, they are protected in terms of the security and encryption, who has access, what they can be used for. It might look like an iPad, but the standards that we've developed today limit the use to gambling only," said Tom Barrett, Executive Director of the Minnesota Gambling Control Board.

Some distributors of the paper games wanted the board to go through a more intense rulemaking process that could have taken several more months.
    
The board also approved the license of Las Vegas-based Acres 4.0, a manufacturer that hopes to have its pull-tab games on iPads ready for use in Minnesota by fall.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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