(CN) - Ohio's $10 limit on prizes for skill-based amusement park games like Skee-Ball and Whac-A-Mole is not unconstitutional and protects the public interest, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled.
Pickaway County Skilled Gaming LLC, which owns Spinners Skill Stop Games in Circleville, challenged the statutory $10 limit on skill games in Franklin County Court.
Spinners has fewer customers that it did in 2007, when Gov. Ted Strickland pushed for tighter regulations on skill-based gaming machines.
Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray argued that the limit served two important government interests: establishing government regulations and protecting against criminal enterprises as a "prophylactic" measure against illegal gambling.
The trial court agreed with Cordray's assertions and the state's highest court affirmed.
"The prize-value limit set forth in (the state law) is rationally related to legitimate government interests and does not violate the Equal Protection Clauses of the United States and Ohio Constitutions," Justice Maureen O'Connor ruled.
"The prize-value limit may dissuade players from spending excessive amounts of money playing skill-based amusement machines hoping to win an expensive prize," she added.
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