The Macon County sheriff gave his approval Wednesday to greater than 1,000 gambling machines set up at VictoryLand in anticipation on the reopening of what was when Alabama’s biggest casino.

Sheriff David Warren mentioned the machines have electronic graphics with slot machine-like reels on them, but that is only for entertaining prospects. Inside the sheriff’s view, a bingo card inside the corner from the video screen as well as the electronic gear inside make them distinct from illegal slot machines.

“Once you get past the eye candy, this can be bingo,” he told reporters soon after a demonstration of your machines.

The sheriff regulates bingo inside the county. At his request, BMM Test Labs of Las Vegas reviewed the computercomputer softwaremade use of to run the games, and it declared that they comply with Alabama law on bingo operations.

“These games are different from slot machines,” BMM’s Rich Williamson mentioned Wednesday.

Alabama LawyerCommon Luther Strange issued a warning Wednesday that the exact samefactor could happen to VictoryLand that happened to two casinos his office shut down earlier this year.

“I have worked tough to enforce the Alabama Supreme Court’s choices and to end illegal gambling in an orderly fashionthrough the court technique,” he mentioned. “I will continue to enforce the rule of law within aconsistent manner statewide.”

Some counties in Alabama have passed constitutional amendments enabling bingo, but legal battles have developed in counties where the operations have gone from regular paper bingo to machines with colorful graphics and sound effects.

VictoryLand, about 15 miles east of Montgomery, was as soon as Alabama’s biggest casino with over6,000 electronic games. Furthermore, it was the largest employer and biggest taxpayer in rural Macon County before closing in 2010 beneath pressure from then-Gov. Bob Riley. He maintained that the games had been illegal slots, though VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor referred to as them legal bingo.

McGregor has been functioning to reopen his casino given that he was acquitted in March on federal charges accusing him of trying to bribe legislators to pass pro-gambling legislation.

McGregor has not set an official opening date, but his attorney, Joe Espy, said he hopes to reopen prior to the finishof your year.

Workers at VictoryLand are still prepping some of the machines. But Johnny Ford, mayor of nearby Tuskegee, mentioned McGregor has currently hired workers and began ordering supplies and that the reopening will be a windfall for the poor county.

“All we want for Christmas is two,000 jobs back and millions for our schools,” he said.

The Macon County sheriff stated he regarded as the old machines at VictoryLand legal and disagreed with all the shutdown. The new machines at VictoryLand resemble the machines there in 2010, but they operate differently and are made by differentsuppliers.

The old machines took money. The new ones do not. Players placecash on a card resembling a bank ATM card and use it to play.

The card identifies their winnings, which they canpick up from a cashier.

For the duration of the legal battle more than electronic bingo, casinos run from the Poarch Creek Indians in Wetumpka, Montgomery and Atmore have avoided any raids or legal action since they are federally regulated. Among them, they’ve gotpracticallytwo,500 machines.