Humble City Council unanimously voted Feb. 12 to restrict faux slot machine games, called eight-liners, to specific venues in Humble—reducing the number of places allowed to offer the games by half, city officials said.
What’s changing?
Under the new ordinance, venues in Humble can only offer up to two eight-liner games, according to Feb. 12 City Council meeting documents. Also, the machines can only be located at:
BarsNightclubsBingo hallsBilliard halls“In short, we’re taking them out of gas stations, and we’re not allowing stand-alone game rooms, period,” City Manager Jason Stuebe said. “It also tightens up several other loopholes with regard to non-functional machines.”
Some context
Last year, city leaders saw problems happening at some of the locations that offered eight-liner machines, Mayor Norman Funderburk said Feb. 12.
Eight-liners can lead to “increased crime, such as gambling, theft, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and burglary,” according to meeting documents.
“I just feel like they don’t really add value to the city of Humble in these locations,” Funderburk said. “They can be a draw for a negative element.”
In Humble, 16 locations hosted a combined 22 eight-liner machines, but the new law will prevent about half of those venues from offering the games, Funderburk said.
Zooming out
While slot machines and other gambling devices offering cash prizes are illegal in Texas, eight-liners are legal if they grant winners non-cash prizes worth less than $5, according to the Texas State Law Library’s website.
However, the Second Court of Appeals of Texas recently ruled that cities can regulate the machines, according to Feb. 12 meeting documents.