“HOOPLA” A CHANCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 870, 14 January 1930, Page 7

“HOOPLA” A CHANCE

BREACH OF GAMING LAW FINES IMPOSED AT DUNEDIN Special to THE SUN DUNEDIN, Monday. Holding that “hoopla” is a game of chance, Mr. H. W. Bundle, S.M., today imposed a fine of £2 and costs on two defendants who • had set up a plant in the vestibule of a theatre now closed.

Charles Carter and "William Carter were jointly charged with conducting a common gaming house, a charge to which they pleaded not guilty. Senior-Sergeant Quartermain said that that the police claimed that the game was one of chance, that if it was not a game of chance, it had a tendency to injure public morals, and that it was a breach of the Gaming Act. 1908. It had been played in a busy thoroughfare and pedestrian traffic had been impeded. He added that the game encouraged a spirit of gambling among children. Charles Carter said he had about £3O in stock as prizes, and he had collected at the vestibule about £65. Out of that he had to pay expenses. It was his living. The magistrate referred to a Supreme Court judgment in which it had been held that the playing of “rolldowns” was opposed to public morality. The same position applied in the present case. The defendant said if that was tlie position it was a waste of time lor him to try to prove that “hoopla” was a game of skill. The magistrate said the defendants would be convicted. In regard to the question of penalty he must take into consideration the fact that the game was played at shows and other places. In this case it had been played in a main street. The defendants were fined £2 and costs 10s.