Arkansas Allows Slot Machines
 

After almost 40 years of banning illegal slot machines, Arkansas has finally allowed slot machines to come back to West Memphis and Hot Springs. The whole operation was kept rather quiet, but once word spread that the slot machines would soon be running again, people started lining up to play them. The Memphis media in Tennessee spread word about the $40 million renovation to the slot machine facility, the 150 invited soon turned into 790 people standing on line to play the slot machines.
 

Slot machines went before the voters in 2005 to decide if they should be legal again or not, and it was divvied up by city. The voters in West Memphis overwhelmingly voted to legalize slot machines in their town, and it just barely passed in Hot Springs. The tracks will receive 65% of the slot machine revenue after pay outs. The state receives 18%, and the cities will each receive 1.5%. The counties will get 0.5%, with the remainder of the slot machine revenue going to prize purses and the state racing commission.
 

At Southland Park, roughly 800 slot machines are up and running full time and some players seem to be having difficulty playing the machines. Employees are showing them how to operate the slot machines, as some of them require skill to play. Oaklawn Park went about it much smaller, with 120 slot machines. They are taking it slow as they are waiting for a verdict from the Arkansas Supreme Court, who is ruling on an appeal from the Family Action Council Committee who is trying to get slot machines banned in the state.
 

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