Starnewsonline.com – A new law taking effect Dec. 1 enables individuals to promote, operate or conduct a server-based electronic game, including sweepstakes games played with a prepaid card.
According to the law, a server-based electronic game is one that meets all of four criteria: a database contains a pool of entries with each entry associated with a prize value; participants purchase or obtain a prepaid card; with each prepaid card obtained, the participant also obtains one or more entries in the sweepstakes; and entries are revealed either at the time of purchase or at a terminal with a display similar to a slot machine.
After the video poker ban, the sweepstakes games became popular in convenience stores, copier and fax machine businesses and in hole-in-the-wall places where dozens of computer terminals were set up for games.
