As one of several hundred vendors of coin-operated amusement machines in Pennsylvania, Jim has been through the ups and downs of trying to legalize video poker machines in taverns and clubs across the state.

In 1990, the Legislature passed such a measure, and businesses like his stood to make huge profits from the gambling devices. Then-Gov. Robert P. Casey vetoed it, however, citing "the historic links between illegal video poker machines and organized crime."

Nineteen years later, the machine vendors finally have a governor in favor of legalizing their type of gambling, but one who sees no role in it for them. Gov. Ed Rendell has proposed a plan in which the state would contract with a single, large national supplier to install an estimated 35,000 machines in establishments holding liquor licenses.

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