Controversial Legalization of Video Poker in the States

Video poker has long been a wink-and-a-nod business for bars, restaurants and social clubs across the state, but now Illinois lawmakers want to legalize gambling on the machines and tap the revenue to pay for new schools, bridges and roads.

Opponents say that amounts to a massive expansion of gambling will add to social problems and make it harder to break organized crime's grip on an industry where patrons routinely get under-the-table payouts for playing games that are supposed to be for "entertainment only."

"I know the trade-off is we are going to get roads, we are going to get school construction, but it is not worth the cost," Anita Bedell, the executive director of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems, said Tuesday at a Statehouse news conference.

A vote on whether to legalize the machines, as well as other tax and fee increases to pay for a capital plan, could come as soon as Wednesday.