Selective prosecutions are a dangerous road for State Attorney Generals and local prosecutors.  If they are aware of gambling of any form and do nothing, they open the door to civil claims of selective prosecution by any gambler who is actually prosecuted.  This might not seem much of a risk, but if the person arrested for gambling is a minority, and the bowling alley owner is white...you can imagine that a jury could see fit to slam the state for a couple of million.  Juries are weird that way.

The rules are simple.  If the gaming involves wagering on your own skill, then it's legal because it's not a game of chance (tell that one to Chris Barnes...he'd probably tell you different after yesterday).

If the gaming involves wagering on chance...something you have no control over (i.e. random numbers or random cards) then it is illegal gambling and you will probably get prosecuted...unless, of course, it's a state controlled lottery.
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ILBT!

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In Michigan it was about 2 things.  The first was gambling, like 50/50 tickets that are only about luck not skill.  The other thing that got caught up in it was the liquor control commission. The law states that on a liscensed premises there shall be no gambling devices, such as cards, dice, etc.  That is no doubt from when proabition ended and those who wanted to keep evil liquor away from evil gambling. Anyway, Euker and cards have been going in bars since ? and no one (authorities) have enforced those old LCC laws since who knows when or ever.  As a proprietor with 50/50s going on and cards on every table some knights I called LCC to get an answer. I was first told that no one knew how it was going to be ruled and if I hadn't any violations or warning don't worry and watch for a new ruling to come down. LCC and local police didn't care or want to deal with it, and didn't have the manpower even if they did.  A while later I heard that 50/50s under $50.00 were ok. I called again find out the lady at LCC said she had heard that but didn't know where it came from, and that 50/50s were probably more in the state gaming area.  I quit worring about it, I suppose LCC, state gaming, and law enforcement have better things to worry about. There is no money or political up side in the whole thing, it's just ticks off a lot of people.

Edited on 4/7/2009 11:41 AM

Her in Florida at least Palm Beach County we have mystery games, cards, 50/50, colored head pin strike awards (all of one $) and brackets in tournaments. The house is NOT involved except for letting us use the PA system to announce the numbers.

Yes, we do not know how to vote and are fraught with old folks (like me) but the powers that be have not recently attacked our little bowling stuff.

Sounds like NJ is adding to the long list of reasons why nobody wants to live there! And their gambling commission or whoever it is must not have anything to do, so they sit around dreaming up ways to cause ordinary citizens less fun.
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Never take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

http://www.app.com/article/20090407/BUSINESS/904070321/1279/LOCAL03
This is a link(i hope) to an article in today's Asbury Park Press that discusses this topic and interviews bowling center owners. This situation is vintage New Jersey.