Augusta District Attorney Danny Craig (right) was among the officials Gov. Roy Barnes called on to speak against gambling. SPECIAL

Video poker ''is an untaxed, unregulated gambling enterprise, and it is nothing short of that,'' said Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Danny Craig at a Capitol news conference. Mr. Craig worked with lawmakers during a failed bid to ban the games during the General Assembly's regular session.

During the session, Republicans led an effort to outlaw the machines critics say are often used for illegal gambling. On Tuesday, Mr. Barnes joined the effort after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation report said current laws are hard to enforce.

But General Assembly members were saying the bill might run into a buzz saw of opposition in the House, where representatives weakened a video poker ban during the regular session, then killed the issue outright in the last seconds of the session.

Although most assumed Wednesday that the governor's public support would be enough to push the issue, some members speculated that more than 100 of the chamber's 180 members are ready to support stiffening restrictions but not banning the games.

''Biggest comeback since the 1980 Georgia-Florida game,'' said one lawmaker, referring to the football game won by the Bulldogs on a last-minute touchdown pass.

Meanwhile, on the second day of a special congressional mapping session, state lawmakers decided to head home for a long weekend without officially working on any congressional maps.

Lawmakers are expected to redo Georgia's 11 current congressional districts and create two new ones because of population gains in the state. The Democratic-controlled General Assembly is expected to carve out two Democrat-friendly seats - one likely south of Atlanta and another possibly starting in Augusta and running southeast and southwest toward Savannah and Macon.

Just as they did during a recent round of legislative map drawing, the House and Senate voted to take a break after two uneventful days.

The General Assembly meets every 10 years to redraw state and federal political districts based on numbers from the most recent census.