First appearing in places with limited exposure, such as truck stops and certain fraternal organizations, so-called “grey machines” eventually brought gambling into mainstream businesses across the state of Missouri. For several years, this evil has been left largely unchecked, and has even been met with apathy, but a court ruling this fall offers hope that these malignant, and illegal, grey machines can be challenged.
There have been a few attempts to stem the tide of open and lawless gambling in every community of our state, but only a few. Most police departments and even the state troopers have been reticent to make arrests because most county prosecutors are not willing to follow through with prosecuting the offenders. According to court documents, in late 2018 Torch’s owner, Defendant Steven Miltenberger, personally met with the Phelps County prosecuting attorney, who subsequently informed local law enforcement that he would not pursue prosecution involving Torch devices. Those who would be willing are aware that any attempts would be met with lawsuits that would cost tens of thousands of dollars even if they won. The purveyor of these machines (Torch Electronics) would certainly use their lucrative profit to oppose any attempt at shutting them down.
Franklin County, Platte County, the City of Springfield, and others have tried. The Springfield city council unanimously passed an ordinance on February 12, 2024 to ban all Video Lottery Terminals (VLT) from the city. As a result, Springfield has faced several lawsuits from Torch Entertainment, the owner of and contractor for VLT machines in Missouri. At least one of those lawsuits was dismissed. But the confusion, and more significantly the decadence, continues.
Still, our state legislature has been no help. In fact, in the last legislative session that a bill was introduced by Representative Bill Hardwick (R) that would have legalized “grey machines.”[1] Rather than clarifying that “grey machines” are illegal, it seems to me the bill adopted an “if you can’t beat them, join them” attitude, as though the state legislature and state statutes are at the mercy of private business interests. When our elected leaders are more willing to succumb to special interests than uphold current law, it is time for average citizens to step up and take a stand.
That is exactly what Jim Turntine, owner of TNT Amusement has done. TNT Amusement operates traditional arcade games such as pinball machines, PAC-MAN, and the “claw game,” none of which offer cash prizes.
TNT Amusement has filed several lawsuits dating back to 2019 alleging that Torch has failed to pay taxes on the revenue from the gambling machines, has engaged in unfair business practices, and more. In September 2021, the court denied a motion to dismiss, challenging Turntine’s standing.
It is interesting that in 2023 the courts dismissed RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) claims against Torch due to the plaintiffs’ lack of standing, but not because of injury being the result of their own gambling.
“In March 2023,” court documents read, “several individuals who lost money playing Torch devices sued Torch in federal court asserting claims under RICO and the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, alleging that the devices are illegal, rigged, and poorly regulated. . . . Referring to the devices as slot machines, the court dismissed the RICO claim for lack of standing, reasoning that the proximate cause of the plaintiffs’ injury was their own gambling.”
The court also wrote this about Torch in their ruling: “Defendants (Torch) have been well aware since 2018 that the Missouri Gaming Commission, state and local law enforcement, numerous county prosecutors, and at least one state circuit court have deemed Torch devices illegal under Missouri law.”
However, in the end, the US District Court chose not to rule on the actual legality of the “grey machines” because doing so, they said, would be interfering in state matters. While it is commendable for a federal court to leave state matters to the state, it seems hypocritical for a court to acknowledge that something is illegal while at the same time declining to do anything about it because they don’t want to prejudice the state court. (To read the entire order of the U.S. District Court Case TNT v. Torch from March 2025, click here.)
On October 6th of this year, the Eastern District Court of Missouri ruled in favor of TNT and awarded them $500,000 in damages from Torch. This court decision is a major victory for those who oppose gambling, and it is a major step in eliminating these illegal gambling devices in our state. Local prosecutors and law enforcement now have a court ruling to stand on and will hopefully have the confidence necessary to enforce what has been true all along – the grey machines are in fact illegal.
If you would like to see the grey machines removed from you community. Please talk to your local law enforcement and prosecutors and make them aware of these court cases.
[1] It has been reported (here and here) that Rep. Hardwick’s Political Action Committee has “brought in $37,000 led by gaming interests.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was revised on Nov 20.