“Our games are not gambling devices because they are not games of chance,” Robbins said. Torch games are legal, Robbins argued, because a player can find out if they will win the next game before they put any money into the machine. “The conviction, lack of appeal and destruction of games in Platte County have taken away any impression that these games are legal,” Hegeman said.īut lobbyist Tom Robbins said the Hegeman’s bill is intended to put one of the main vendors of games in the state, Wildwood-based Torch Electronics, out of business. He pointed to the fact that a gambling company was convicted, fined and had their machines destroyed in Platte County last year. Dan Hegeman, who is leading the effort in the Senate for the second year, told the Government Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee Thursday morning that he’s convinced legislation isn’t needed for prosecutors to act. While several prosecutions are pending and at least two have been resolved with guilty verdicts, many prosecutors are reluctant to file charges - and some do not think the games are illegal at all. The annual battle over what is and what is not an illegal gambling machine began Thursday with a Senate committee hearing on a bill to ban “pre-reveal” games that have proliferated throughout the state.