Video Poker Machines

City wants say on OTB parlorsCouncilman Anthony J. Ambridge wants the City Council to have the final say over where off-track betting parlors are located. And Councilman Nicholas C. D'Adamo Jr. wants the state to legalize payouts from video poker machines so the city can charge hefty licensing fees for them.Mr. Ambridge, D-2nd, introduced a bill yesterday that would designate off-track betting parlors as conditional uses in commercial zones. That designation would allow a parlor in an area only after a hearing and council approval.

Four unlicensed video poker machines were seized yesterday from a Veterans of Foreign Wars club in Crisfield during a series of gambling raids across Maryland by the State Police.They served search warrants to vending machine businesses in Carroll, Prince George's and Somerset counties, seizing records in connection with a nine-month undercover investigation into the transportation and use of gambling machines in Maryland and across state lines, authorities said last night.Thomas Rye, 49, of Jarrettsville, owner of LBJ Enterprises, and John Obradovic, 48, of Severna Park, owner of JMO Associates, were charged with illegal possession of slot machines.

State legislators from Harford County plan, yet again, to propose a bill this year that would allow fraternal organizations to have slot machines in their clubs as a way to raise money. A lot of money. The bill is already being touted with the usual fanfare, wrapped in the red, white and blue of veterans clubs just trying to raise a littlecoin so they can keep their clubs up to par and help local charitiesin need. If this year's rendition of this old song is similar to the failed ones of the past three years, half the money taken in from the machines would have to be used for "the benefit of charity."

Joseph J. Stonik, owner of the Rossville Vending Machine Co., has lost the latest round in a series of court trials resulting from a crackdown on video poker machines in 1985.Maryland Tax Court Judge William B. Calvert last month ruled that Stonik's firm owes Baltimore County $1,515,052.35 in back taxes, interest and penalties on video poker machine revenues collected between 1982 and 1985 but not reported as income.Assistant Attorney General Gaylin Soponis said books seized during raids initiated by state Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli revealed unreported income of at least $7 million during those years -- all from people who dropped quarters into the poker machines, which police say are often used for illegal gambling.

Blair E. Cross, a Veterans of Foreign Wars state leader, urged a Senate committee Wednesday to endorse two bills that would legalize video poker and slot machines in Harford County.Cross, a junior vice commander for the VFW in Maryland, told the Judicial Proceedings Committee at a hearing that the machines are needed for Harford's civic organizations to raise the amount of money they contribute to charity."We're pretty well confined in Harford County," said Cross, of Whiteford. "That's why we need these bills now. . . . What we need is to put more money into the community."

Gov. William Donald Schaefer plans to veto legislation that would permit video poker and slot machines in Harford County if the bills pass the General Assembly.Schaefer is opposed to the legislation, introduced in the state Senate on Feb. 4. He is concerned that poker and slot machines in the county would open the door to gambling and organized crime, said Paul E. Schurick, the governor's press secretary."He feels that their proliferation could potentially lead to problems down the road," Schurick said.

Video poker and slot machines would be legalized in Harford County under two bills to be introduced this week in the General Assembly by Sen. William H. Amoss, D-District 35A.Amoss said he will introduce tomorrow a bill which would allow establishments with liquor licenses -- such as bars and private clubs -- to have two video poker computer machines on the premises for entertainment. The game is played byhitting a button to stop cards flashing across a screen.A second bill he plans to propose would legalize the use of slot machines only in private, non-profit clubs -- such as American Legionor VFW posts.

A bill proposed by a Baltimore County councilman just after he lost his council seat last month would effectively soften the penalties for illegal operators of video poker machines.William R. Evans, the former councilman, said he could have proposed the measure before Election Day but didn't want to place other candidates under pressure before the election. Save for another measure allowing Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs as pets, it was the only substantive bill proposed after an election that saw most of the council overturned.