FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky prosecutors and law enforcement got an advisory from Attorney General Russell Coleman on Wednesday clarifying the law about "gray machines" and "risk-free play" games, according to a release.
“The law is clear – gray machines and other games like them are illegal gambling devices that have no place in Kentucky,” Coleman said. “Along with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners across Kentucky, we will uphold the law as passed by our Commonwealth’s policymakers in the General Assembly.”
In 2023, the General Assembly passed House Bill 594 to outlaw gray machines. Following legal challenges in Jefferson County and Franklin County, the Franklin Circuit Court ruled in favor of the Attorney General and upheld the General Assembly’s ban in June of 2024.
“You and your office are free to investigate and prosecute any violations of the Commonwealth’s gambling laws, including the laws related to ‘gray machines,’” the Advisory to law enforcement and prosecutors said. “[W]e are prepared to provide whatever assistance your office may need if your investigation or prosecution of illegal ‘gray machines’ is challenged in court or results in additional constitutional challenges to the law or litigation against your office.”
More than 500 of the new “risk-free play” gambling devices have appeared throughout the Commonwealth, according to the advisory.
The distinctive feature of these games is that, before each game play, the games communicate to the player what the outcome of the next single game play will be. So, a player will always know whether the next game play will be a win or a loss.
The manufacturer says this format eliminates all element of chance and argues that these games do not fit within the statutory definition of “gambling device.”
The Attorney General’s Advisory references Kentucky Supreme Court precedent to conclude these games’ “element of chance” makes them clearly illegal under the law.
You can read the full advisory.
