Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus, the chairman of the House Rules Committee, said his committee will consider a bill outlawing video poker games this morning and likely will have a version ready for the full House by Monday.

Some supporters had feared that the bill, toughened considerably by Sen. Mike Beatty, R-Jefferson, and other Republicans in the Senate, would be buried by Democrats in the House. Democrats hold the majority of seats in both the House and the Senate.

``There's too much interest in this bill to hold it,'' said Mr. Smyre, whose committee decides which bills go on the House calendar each day. ``We want to be fair, and we don't want to put anybody out of business, but at the same time we don't want to allow gambling to go unchecked.''

Mr. Smyre said he has received more than 250 faxes and e-mails on the issue since his committee received the bill. Last week, the Senate considered a bill favored by the gaming industry that toughened laws on video poker games while keeping them legal.

Mr. Beatty, who had sponsored two failed bills that would wipe out the games, successfully amended the bill to outlaw them - a move that received overwhelming bipartisan support on the Senate floor.

Video poker has become a concern in the state since South Carolina outlawed the games last year. Communities near the state line - particularly those around Athens, Augusta and Savannah - have seen an influx of the games since then.

Current state law outlaws cash payouts from the games and prohibits them from giving prizes worth more than $5. But critics, including Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Danny Craig, say the law is routinely ignored and hard to enforce.

``Video poker had its advent into Georgia in the border communities,'' said Mr. Craig, who has visited the Capitol repeatedly in recent weeks to help craft laws cracking down on the games. ``We were the first to experience the consequences of video gambling in its purest form.''

Meanwhile, defenders of the games say moves to curb them have gone too far.

Les Simpson, a lobbyist with the Georgia Amusement and Music Operators Association, said Mr. Beatty's amendments punish honest game owners for the sins of a few. The way the amendment is worded, he said, could be interpreted to outlaw some video arcade games and children's games, such as Skee-ball.

``You don't clip your fingernails with a chain saw,'' said Mr. Simpson, who helped craft the original Senate bill. ``That's what Beatty's amendment seems to do.''

But support for the tougher measures appears to be picking up steam in the House.

A news conference urging Mr. Smyre's committee to move the bill was attended by at least two Democratic House committee chairmen, in addition to several House and Senate Republicans.

``Video gambling is something I've feared for some time,'' said Rep. Roger Byrd, D-Hazlehurst, the chairman of the Human Relations and Aging Committee. ``The legislature needs to act now to make sure this doesn't become a problem in this state.''

His Republican colleagues agreed.

``I think we need to stop it right now,'' said Rep. Sue Burmeister, R-Augusta. ``It's just a door to open up racketeering in Georgia.''

Mr. Smyre said his committee, which meets this morning, will try to reword the bill to make sure video games other than those used for gambling are protected.

Reach Doug Gross at (404) 589-8424 or mnews@mindspring.com.