COLUMBIA, S.C. - A Greenville judge has refused Game Systems Inc.'s request for an injunction that would keep police from seizing computers used to play Internet games.

Authorities see the online games as an attempt to get around the state's video gambling ban.

Game Systems asked Circuit Judge Edward Miller to intercede after an undercover State Law Enforcement Division agent bought a $40 phone card at the Internet Cafe in Simpsonville. With that card, he was allowed to choose from among 15 games played on 20 Internet Cafe computers.

The state says the business was set up only for Internet video gambling.

Jim Griffin, a lawyer for Fort Worth, Texas-based Game Systems, said the games are being played in eight South Carolina counties and in eight states and they are no different than other cash prize promotions, such as McDonald's Monopoly game or Piggly Wiggly's lotto.

"Sweepstakes schemes that promote the sale of a product through the chance to win a prize are legal," Griffin said in court filings.

The state Supreme Court upheld promotions such as McDonald's Monopoly game because their primary purpose is to sell a legal product, state lawyers said.

Game Systems' promotion "is nothing more than a smoke screen for gambling," assistant attorney general Robert Cook said in court filings.

The state will return to court Monday to ask a judge to dismiss Game Systems' case.