A proposed lottery game that would allow players to become instant winners (or losers) without so much as scratching a ticket is under fire from critics who contend it would be a giant step toward slot machines. Under the proposed EZ Match game which the Texas Lottery Commission could take up as soon as Oct. 2 players would hand their money to a clerk and get back an instant ticket printed from a lottery terminal. No wait for a drawing, and no need to scratch. 'It's just like a scratch game, only you don't scratch the latex,' Lottery Commission spokesman Bobby Heith said after being asked about critics' slot-machine concerns. 'There's no buttons. There's no spinning wheels. There's no levers. You can only get the ticket through a clerk-assisted transaction at a lottery retailer.' Proposed rules for the game specify that it would not be played on a video lottery terminal, a form of slot machine. The commission's assistant general counsel, Pete Wassdorf, has said the only similarity to a video lottery is that the ticket 'is purchased from an electronic machine, but the dissimilarities far exceed that.' A slew of critics, however, have sent the commission pleas to stop the plan. The key, they say, is that game results would be predetermined in the lottery's computer system and delivered instantly. 'It is a video lottery system that they are approving,' said Rob Kohler, a former Lottery Commission staffer who is a consultant for the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission. 'Whether they are going to allow players to immediately start pressing buttons and seeing electronic versions of card games happening is irrelevant ,' Kohler said. He called passage of the rule 'the equivalent of allowing assault rifles, but saying, 'We're not going to use this to shoot holes in tanks, we're going to shoot water balloons out of it.'' No-expansion pledge Jarratt Watkins, of Stop Predatory Gambling, wrote to the commission, 'At stake is whether three people appointed by Gov. (Rick) Perry will do what the publicly elected Texas Legislature has repeatedly refused to do.' Other foes include Cathie Adams of the Texas Eagle Forum. Such opposition makes the subject touchy for Perry, who is counting on his conservative base as he faces a GOP primary challenge from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Perry years ago backed the idea of slot machines at racetracks to help fund public schools, but since has emphasized opposition to gambling expansion. 'The governor does not support any expansion of gaming and this appears to be an expansion,' Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle said. That jibes with the views of two lawmakers who noted video lottery terminal proposals have failed to pass the Legislature. 'The Texas Legislature, at the urging of Texans, has continually refused to adopt Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) in Texas. While you state in the rule that the terminal printed instant games are not played on a video lottery machine, this appears to be a step towards VLTs,' Rep. Charlie Howard, R-Sugar Land, wrote to the commission. 'Immediate gratification' Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Canton, said the proposal 'would constitute a giant leap forward for electronic gambling and only one small step away from stand alone VLTs.' As proposed, the new game could be played as an add-on to another lottery game or as a stand-alone game. If approved by the commission, it first would roll out as a $1 add-on that players could buy when purchasing a ticket for Lotto Texas or other electronically transmitted game, Heith said. At the July 8 meeting, at which the commission proposed the game for public comment, Commissioner David Schenck mused that 'this seems a lot closer to an instant random kind of drawing, kind of a slot-machine activity' in a question to Wassdorf. Wassdorf, among a host of points, noted that a ticket could be purchased only from a clerk. In addition, winners would not be computed at the time of sale. Winning and losing tickets would come in sequence from a database or spreadsheet maintained on the lottery operator's gaming system. Robert Tirloni, lottery commission products manager, described the proposed game as another way to give lottery players the 'immediate gratification' they crave and add a sales revenue source. Of a total $3.72 billion in sales in fiscal year 2009, $2.79 billion came from instant scratch-off tickets, according to Texas Lottery figures released Tuesday. pfikac@express-news.net 