Those in the industry say they are simply trying to make money with legal machines that reward skill instead of luck and let players win merchandise or free games.

Regulators say illegal cash payouts are not back in a big way, but police have increased seizures of machines in recent months. Some of those machines are being declared legal, at least temporarily, as machine owners armed with experts and lawyers overwhelm local police and prosecutors.

"They're waiting for us to turn our backs," anti-gambling lawyer Richard Gergel said of the renewed push by the industry. "The gambling industry is like a collection of cockroaches after an atom bomb. They're always back trying to get into business."

An analysis of court cases and interviews by The State newspaper showed machine owners are making some headway in creating some legal machines, especially one Goose Creek company that has introduced what it says is a tamper-resistant computer chip for its latest $3,500 machine.

Castle King argues that the chip helps make all of its Chess Challenge II machines identical and allows a judge to declare all of them legal at once. South Carolina law requires each machine be considered separately.

In a series of raids this fall, State Law Enforcement Division agents found more than 400 machines agents say are illegal.

The distinction is whether a game's outcome depends on a player's skill or on chance. Skill games are OK; chance games are illegal. Players can win merchandise or free plays. These lesser cousins do not offer traditional gambling-style games, but they are appearing in many of the same places video gambling was popular -- convenience stores, bars and private and public clubs.

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