TMNews.com | The Times-Mail - Bedford, Indiana newspaper

TMNews.com The Times-Mail - Bedford, Indiana newspaper:
"Legalizing low-stakes games of chance in bars will help bars make ends meet, some say, while others say it’s just more proliferation of gambling in Indiana.
Passed during the most recent legislative session, a bill is in place that will put pull tabs, tip boards and punch boards in bars on July 1 — legally.
Brad Klopfenstein, executive director of the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association, sees the legislation as something that can aid bar and tavern owners, while not hurting anyone.
“It’s not going to be anything by which to build a business model,” Klopfenstein said. “But it can potentially be a nice little ancillary revenue stream for bars.”
Klopfenstein anticipates an average bar will increase its revenue by about $20,000 a year by offering the low-stakes games of chance, and he believes 1,000 to 1,500 will initially get in the business with the number eventually topping out at about 2,000 bars and taverns in Indiana selling the tickets.
Those opposed to pull tabs, tip boards and punch boards in bars and taverns, Klopfenstein said, are the same people who opposed putting the slot machines at the horse race tracks and any other expansion of gambling in Indiana.
Count Indiana House Republican Leader Brian Bosma among that group."