SEN. HUGHES HELPS GET HANDLE ON GAMBLING “SKILL” GAMES

  • Skill games have been set up in bars, grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores and laundromats across Nebraska. A new law requires the operators of the game to pay a tax on the games’ revenues and hook into a central server that will record how much the games take in and pay out. Photo by Bob Glissmann/Flatwater Free Press
    Skill games have been set up in bars, grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores and laundromats across Nebraska. A new law requires the operators of the game to pay a tax on the games’ revenues and hook into a central server that will record how much the games take in and pay out. Photo by Bob Glissmann/Flatwater Free Press

    Editor’s note: This story is about gambling and problem gambling. Nebraskans seeking help with problem gambling can call 1-833-BETOVER — 833-2386837 — 24 hours a day.

    Mike Sciandra kept $300-$400 zippered inside a pouch in his leather backpack, ready for the moment he could take a break from his traveling sales job and walk into a Nebraska bar or convenience store.

    There, in Auburn, Aurora, Columbus…