Pennsylvania Police Tell Businesses to Get Rid of Skill Games or Risk Raids

The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) has fired a warning shot at the thousands of small businesses that continue to house illegal slot machines masquerading as skill games: get rid of them or face raids and seizures. A skill game machine in Pennsylvania is played in December 2021. Legislation in Virginia to legalize and regulate skill games would not require the machines to come with a minimum payout rate. (Image: Casino.org/Devin O’Connor) In June, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded a years-long legal saga surrounding whether elements of skill in a gaming machine make the device immune from the state’s gaming law. The high court ruled that despite a skill game’s payout rate not being dependent solely on chance, the games still fall within the legal scope of the Gaming Act. The Supreme Court decision came with a 120-day stay, giving skill gaming distributors and host businesses time to remove the machines and, possibly, time for the legislature in Harrisburg to pass a bill to allow the games to continue. No legislative solution has yet occurred, prompting law enforcement to issue guidance to businesses that still have the slot machines. Pennsylvania Police Warning On Wednesday (Sept. 9), the PSP reminded businesses and establishments across the commonwealth that the Supreme Court’s stay expires on Oct. 13, 2026. In the guidance, law enforcement says unplugging the machines is insufficient to comply with the law. Simply powering off an otherwise operable machine or unplugging them is not sufficient to comply with the law. If a distributor or vendor is unwilling to remove machines, the establishment is encouraged to proactively reach out to PSP to assist in their removal to ensure compliance with applicable law,” the guidance said. Police officials recommend that host venues reach out to their skill game distributors or vendors to discuss their removal. Come Oct. 13, the PSP and other law enforcement agencies “may take enforcement action against businesses which continue to possess, operate, and/or maintain such machines,” the notice explained. “Enforcement actions may include seizing and forfeiting the machines, associated equipment and money associated with the operation of the machines, and/or filing criminal charges where deemed appropriate,” the PSP said. Pennsylvania Skill Games There were an estimated 70,000 skill games operating in Pennsylvania before the Supreme Court ruling. Most continue to operate despite the court’s decision. A Pennsylvania business owner who operates grocery stores told Casino.org that Pace-O-Matic, the leading provider of skill games that’s behind the popular Pennsylvania Skill title, has not reached out to discuss the possible removal of the games. State Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) will soon introduce a bill to regulate skill games. Diamond said he will recommend taxing skill game revenue at 20% and directing 79% of the state’s tax benefit from the games to the Property Tax Relief Fund. Diamond is expected to also propose overhauling state gaming taxes industry-wide by stripping local share payments. That component will be pushed back on by municipal and county leaders, who rely greatly on the 2% to 4% cut of their local casino’s gaming revenue. The post Pennsylvania Police Tell Businesses to Get Rid of Skill Games or Risk Raids appeared first on Casino.org.