Court Opinion

ID: 9854086
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:00:29.896172+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:54.997414
License: Public Domain

ADAMS, Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur specially because I disagree with the majority’s reasoning but find the games to be illegal for a different reason. The machines are illegal gambling devices because, even under the defendants’ description of how the games work, they allow a player to redeem more than allowed for a single play of the game, and, accordingly, the games do not meet the definition in OCGA § 16-12-35 of machines designed for bona fide amusement purposes.
The defendants’ expert Michael Pace testified that the games are run with computer software, some of which he himself programed in a specific attempt to create games that complied with the very statutes at issue in this case. He testified regarding the redemption feature of all the games at issue. He offered an example of how the feature worked. He explained that on the first play of a game, which might cost $1 to play, a lucky player could win 100 points, which are denominated as dollars on the game screen. If the player were to hit the redeem button and cash out at this point, he would receive a voucher worth $5 of merchandise. The machine keeps track of the number of plays and ensures that because the player has only played once, he is limited to redeeming this amount. This redemption complies with OCGA § 16-12-35 (d) (1) and (2), which prohibit bona fide amusement games from allowing a player to redeem points or other evidence of winnings and exchange them for noncash rewards worth more than $5 “for a single play of the game or device.”
Pace went on to explain that even if you hit the redeem button at that point, the machine would keep track of the fact that you still had 95 points/dollars and that these points are carried over to another game if you chose to spend another $1 or won one or more free replays during your first play. This provision also complies with provisions of the law that allow bona fide amusement games to accumulate winnings for successful play and accumulate points by accrual on the machine or device. OCGA § 16-12-35 (d) (2). The law also allows players to win an unlimited number of free replays. OCGA § 16-12-35 (b), (d). So far so good.
In Pace’s example, the player decided to continue in the second game, and he or she spent another $1 to play. But in this game, the player only won one point/dollar. In other words, the player netted nothing in that game. Nevertheless, the player could hit redeem at this point and receive another $5 voucher. This is so because the *120game is designed to determine how many accumulated points/dollars remain and if sufficient points remain, award another $5 because the player has now played another game. In other words, the computer took some of the “winnings” from game one and paid them out in game two even though the player won nothing in game two. The machine would then know that the player’s accumulated winnings has been reduced to $90. A player could then play eight games in a row, for example, winning nothing in each game, then press redeem and receive a voucher for eight times $5, or $40. Pace added, “If you have played ten games and won $1,000, . . . you are only going to be able redeem a $50 certificate from that machine until further games are played on the machine.” To summarize, the example player won $100 in game one, won nothing in the next nine games, yet the machine allowed the player to redeem the entire winnings from game one.
In Pace’s opinion, this averaging technique complies with Georgia law, and the trial court relied on Pace’s reasoning. I disagree. Under the example given above, it is plain to see that the player won $100 in “a single play of the game or device” and collected it all. He did so by collecting $5 vouchers in games in which he in fact won nothing. Thus, the game violates the letter and intent of the law.
The accumulation provision of the statute is no refuge for the defendants. It provides:
A player of bona fide coin operated amusement games or devices described in paragraph (1) of this subsection may accumulate winnings for the successful play of such bona fide coin operated amusement games or devices through tokens, vouchers, points, or tickets. Points may be accrued on the machine or device. A player may carry over points on one play to subsequent plays. A player may redeem accumulated tokens, vouchers, or tickets for noncash merchandise, prizes, toys, gift certificates, or novelties so long as the amount of tokens, vouchers, or tickets received does not exceed $5.00 for a single play.
OCGA § 16-12-35 (d) (2).
Nothing in this paragraph can be construed as allowing the type of averaging performed by the games when calculating the redemption. In addition to free replays, subsection (d) (1) (B) provides that a bona fide amusement game may “reward” a player with noncash merchandise with a “wholesale value of not more than $5.00 received for a single play of the game or device.” (Emphasis supplied.) Subsection (d) (1) (C) provides that the games may also “reward” “evidence of winnings,” in the form of points, tokens, *121vouchers, or tickets, which may be exchanged for free replays or the same limited noncash merchandise. Subsection (d) (2) merely provides that the games may “accumulate winnings for the successful play” of the games, that these accumulated winnings may accrue on the machine and be carried over to subsequent plays, and that these accumulated winnings may be redeemed. (Emphasis supplied.) The final line of subsection (d) (2) reiterates that a player may redeem the accumulated winnings so long as they “do[ ] not exceed $5.00 for a single play.” OCGA § 16-12-35 (d) (2).
Decided June 25, 2009
Reconsiderations denied July 15, 2009
Patrick H. Head, District Attorney, Amelia G. Pray, Christopher *122W. Timmons, Samuel W. Lengen, Assistant District Attorneys, for appellant.
*121We are reminded that when interpreting statutes, we must “look diligently for the intention of the General Assembly, keeping in view at all times the old law, the evil, and the remedy.” OCGA § 1-3-1 (a). Read as a whole and construing the statute in this light, I would hold that OCGA § 16-12-35 (d) prohibits the averaging system described by Pace. Rather, it strictly provides that players are prohibited from redeeming winnings of more than $5 for a single play. The machines may, for amusement purposes, show the player that he or she has won any number of points or game dollars in a single game, carry them over to subsequent games, and accumulate them from game to game. But for the purposes of redemption, the machines may only accumulate the actual winnings of a maximum of $5 per play of the game. Thus, in the example offered by Pace, the player may win 100 points or game “dollars” in game one, but regardless of how many times the player replays (with or without new consideration), he or she may never redeem more than $5 for that initial game nor later redeem any of the remaining winnings from game one in any other game. If the player played nine times thereafter and won nothing in each play, he or she could only redeem $5 at the end of the ten-game session.
I disagree with the majority’s definition of “a single play of the game or device.” The definition would necessarily exclude free replays, which are plainly allowed under the statute. See OCGA § 16-12-35 (b), (d) (1). The majority opinion also appears to limit how many game points or “dollars” can be awarded on the game screen. Points awarded on the screen are not regulated by the statute; the limitation in the statute is on the value of rewards issued by the machine per play of the game. Finally, requiring a player to cash out every time they have accumulated a $5 voucher is not required under the statute.
*122Spix & Krupp, Mark V. Spix, Begner & Begner, Alan I. Begner, Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider & Stine, Les A. Schneider, Paul Oliver, Jacqueline D. Joslyn, Rhonda L. Klein, Balch & Bing-ham, Michael J. Bowers, Howard J. Manchel, for appellees.