Are Fish Tables Illegal in North Carolina? Penalties and Seizures

Fish tables are illegal in North Carolina. State law treats them as prohibited gambling devices because the payout depends predominantly on chance rather than player skill, and a December 2024 Court of Appeals decision reinforced that view. Operators face misdemeanor charges that climb to felonies on repeat offenses, players can be charged too, and law enforcement routinely seizes the machines and the cash inside them.

Why the Law Treats Fish Tables as Gambling

Fish tables are multiplayer video games where players shoot animated fish with a joystick or buttons, pay credits per shot, and cash out credits they earn from hits. Operators market them as “skill games” or “skill arcades.” North Carolina law does not accept that label.

Under state law, operating a game of chance for money is a Class 2 misdemeanor, with narrow exceptions for the state lottery and a handful of other authorized activities.¹ A separate statute makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor to set up or keep a gaming table or illegal slot machine, and the same penalty reaches anyone who plays at one.² The definition of “slot machine or device” is deliberately broad: any machine that accepts payment and gives the user a chance to receive money, credits, or anything of value qualifies.³

A companion statute specifically bans video gaming machines, including video poker, video bingo, video keno, and any video game based on random matching where the outcome does not depend on the player’s skill. It also bans electronic sweepstakes machines that use an “entertaining display,” which captures the flashy interfaces fish tables rely on.⁴ The video gaming ban carves out only Class III gaming operated under an approved Tribal-State Compact, which covers the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and nobody else. Standard arcade games played purely for amusement with no cash-equivalent payout stay legal, but once credits convert to money the device crosses into slot machine territory.

The question that decides any close case is the predominance test: does chance or skill primarily determine the outcome? Operators argue that aiming at fish takes coordination and timing. Courts have found that argument unpersuasive because the game’s internal algorithms decide whether a given shot destroys a fish and what it pays. Skill may influence which fish you shoot. Chance decides whether you get paid.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals applied that reasoning in No Limit Games, LLC v. Sheriff of Robeson County, decided December 31, 2024. The court held that chance predominated over skill in the plaintiff’s games and reversed a lower court order that had let the machines keep running. The real question, the court said, is not whether skill plays any role but whether skill actually controls whether a player wins and how much.⁵

Penalties for Running a Fish Table Operation

Charges fall along two tracks, and the choice of statute affects the exposure.

Under the general gambling and gaming table statutes, operating a game of chance for money or keeping an illegal gaming table is a Class 2 misdemeanor, which can carry up to 60 days in jail for someone with no prior record.²

When fish tables are charged specifically as prohibited video gaming machines, the penalties escalate with each conviction:

First offense: Class 1 misdemeanor, up to 120 days in jail.
Second offense: Class H felony, with a potential sentence of 4 to 25 months depending on criminal history.
Third or subsequent offense: Class G felony, with a potential sentence of 8 to 31 months.⁶

That jump from misdemeanor to felony is where operators often get caught off guard. A second conviction need not come from a second visit on the same day. It can arrive months or years later if the operator reopens somewhere else, and prosecutors have been willing to pursue the escalated charges.

Can Players Be Charged?

Yes. Betting money on a game of chance is a Class 2 misdemeanor, and playing at an illegal gaming table carries the same penalty as keeping one.¹² In practice, enforcement tends to focus on operators, but the exposure for players is real.

Seizure of Machines, Cash, and ABC Permits

Sheriffs and law enforcement officers can seize fish table machines and other prohibited gaming devices when there is probable cause to believe they are being used illegally. The machines are held pending a court order, and if a court finds the device unlawful to possess it can order the machine destroyed or turned over to law enforcement for training.⁷

Interfering with a seizure makes the situation worse. Anyone who opposes the destruction of a prohibited gaming device or tries to remove seized money or property faces a $1,000 forfeiture and an additional Class 2 misdemeanor on top of the underlying gambling charges.⁸

Businesses that hold ABC permits face a separate hit. State law directs the ABC Commission to summarily suspend permits issued to any business where an investigation reveals gambling violations, so a fish table operation can cost a bar or restaurant its ability to sell alcohol before any criminal case is resolved.⁹

Reporting a Fish Table Location

North Carolina’s Alcohol Law Enforcement division is the lead state agency for gambling enforcement and investigates fish table complaints through its nuisance abatement program. ALE can be reached at 1-877-ALE-AGENT or alehq.headquarters@ncdps.gov.¹⁰ Local police departments and sheriff’s offices also have independent authority to seize illegal gaming devices under state law.⁷

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-292 – Gambling
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-295 – Keeping Gaming Tables
3
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-306 – Slot Machine or Device
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-306.1A – Types of Machines and Devices Prohibited by Law
5
Justia Law. No Limit Games LLC v Sheriff of Robeson County
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-309 – Violation a Misdemeanor
7
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-298 – Seizure of Illegal Gaming Items
8
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-300 – Opposing Destruction of Gaming Table
9
North Carolina Department of Public Safety. ALE Laws and Rules
10
North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Alcohol Law Enforcement