New gaming law may close local sweepstakes business
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PORTSMOUTH — Gov. John Lynch on Monday signed a bill into law that aims to ban sweepstakes gaming establishments that have appeared on the Seacoast and elsewhere in the state.
The law means 3D Business Center, which has about 40 game terminals in Seabrook and about the same number in Portsmouth, could be shuttered immediately if local law enforcement agencies decide it is in violation.
The law is expected to go into effect immediately, with fines of up to $5,000 per day for each machine. There are an estimated 150 to 200 sweepstakes machines statewide.
The Portsmouth location of 3D Business Center was still open Monday evening. Attempts to confirm whether the Seabrook location remained open were unsuccessful.
Under the bill, local officials have full authority to close the gaming centers.
Officials in Portsmouth have kept a close eye on the local business since it opened. City Attorney Robert Sullivan visited the establishment along with code enforcement officials last month, prior to the legislation's passage, to conduct a routine check of the operation.
Police Capt. Mike Schwartz, who also paid the business a visit, said Monday that local authorities will await direction from the state attorney general's office.
"The attorney general's office has primary oversight of this," Schwartz said. "It will be on their direction ... as far as if there are any sweepstakes parlors open, how to proceed to close them down or make them come in compliance."
Efforts to ban similar operations in other states have faced legal challenges.
Calling the issue complicated, Schwartz said the new law makes sense from a factual standpoint, saying there are no safeguards in place for people who participate in the operation.
The law drew widespread support in the state Legislature. In some cases, elected officials said sweepstakes machines take money away from charities, which receive a 35 percent share of profits from legal, licensed gaming in the state.
A request for comment from the state's attorney general's office went unreturned Monday.
In previous interviews with game operators at 3D Business Center, they said they were running a legal sweepstakes and that the operation shouldn't be called gambling.
The way the business works is that customers buy phone or Internet time cards and, based on the number of minutes they buy, they earn points to play the video slot machines. The business's owners said no purchase is necessary, however, as each customer is offered a certain number of complimentary points.
The new law expands the definition of gambling to include situations where it is clear that what customers are really buying is the chance to play the sweepstakes, not the goods or services being sold.
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