DES MOINES, IA — Iowa will pay a $250,000 settlement to International Gamco Inc. (Omaha, NE) as compensation for losses incurred when the state's legislature outlawed previously legal TouchPlay machines in 2006. As part of the settlement, Gamco will drop claims against Iowa and acknowledge that the state denies any liability in the matter, officials said.

Bob Brammer, a spokesman for the state attorney general, told the Associated Press that this is the fifth or sixth settlement in the TouchPlay controversy so far, bringing Iowa's total settlement payments to about $3.6 million. Dozens of TouchPlay operators remain headed to trial in a class-action lawsuit currently set for September 8.

Gamco said it is North America's premier manufacturer of pull-tab tickets, with regional sales offices located throughout the U.S. The company serves the lottery, charitable gaming and promotional games markets of 46 states.

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