Augusta officials deny video poker licenses

By an 8-1 vote, with one abstention, the commissioners denied a license to Barry L. Stewart for Regency Cafe after city attorney Jim Wall said Stewart had not acquired a restaurant license or submitted a business plan to show he could satisfy a Georgia law that 50 percent or more of the revenue generated come from a source other than gaming machines.

Stewart applied for an arcade license with the city in early May, so it was obvious the main thrust of the business would be video poker, not food sales, Wall said.

"I think it really is a video poker parlor," Mr. Wall said.

Stewart's lawyer, Kevin S. Little, said there was no provision in the ordinance requiring his client to present a business plan. Based on that and assurances of city officials that the application was in order, Stewart had invested money to open Regency Cafe.

Little said Stewart had an appointment to apply for a restaurant license on Thursday.

Commissioners by a 9-0 vote with one abstention denied a license to J.B. Gordon for Diamond Redemption Center.

Commissioners asked how Gordon planned to make 50 percent or more of his revenue from a source other than the machines when they and the Georgia lottery were the only things that would be in the business.

Hibbard said he was confident he could make that much money off the lottery.

Video poker became legal in South Carolina after a lawmaker slipped a provision into a bill in 1986. Anti-gambling forces fought hard to outlaw the machines, and last year the Legislature approved a bill that banned video gambling unless voters decided in a referendum to keep the machines.

A few months later, the state Supreme Court threw out the referendum, but upheld the ban.

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