Although skill games resemble slot machines in appearance and feel, their creators claim that unlike slot machines in casinos, these games do not only rely on luck. Instead, to win and get paid, participants, as it is claimed, must possess a certain degree of human skill or talent.

What Skill Games Are According to Pennsylvania Law

Currently popular at Pennsylvania’s eateries, bars, convenience stores, and other businesses, skill games are also distinctive in that: unlike slot machines that are heavily taxed, skill games are not taxed or regulated under the state’s gaming legislation. Slot machines are subject to 54% taxation while skill games don’t have to pay this tax.

They are similar to slot machines in both appearance and operation. Supermarkets, VFWs, and bars commonly stock skill games. The major issue is that one’s success while playing slot machines depends on luck, whereas skill games claim that winning requires talent or skill on the part of the player. (One may even memorize some aspects of the game in order to win more often).

They have become a target because of their status. Since the State Police consider skill games to be equivalent to unlawful gambling, the casino sector has complained that they are run with little to no financial or social accountability. 

Key Players in the Skill Games Market

There are companies that manufacture skill games that are being used in Pennsylvania like Miele Amusements, Pace-O-Matic, Ultra, Ultramax, etc. Then there are operators of skill games like PennsylvaniaSkills. There are stores, taverns, and bar owners who purchase these skill machines and place them at their locations. 

There is Pennsylvania’s Lottery which is not okay with the current issue with skill games and fights against their existence in the state of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s licensed casino operators are not the biggest fans of skill games as well. 

The Origin of the Skill Games Debate

Skilled games made lots of enemies with a variety of stakeholders since they operate in murky legal waters, including law enforcement, PA casinos who claim they are stealing business without paying the right taxes, and local businesses who depend on them for income. In two different cases in May, PA county courts determined that skill games had been improperly taken during raids and had to be returned.

Undercover PLE officials visited the Swizzle Stick in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania on two occasions in December 2019 and January 2020. They played several Pinnacle-owned electronic games while there. On January 27, 2020, they seized 3 machines from the establishment during a regular check. The devices were taken into custody in Luzerne County by agents of the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE). Eleven Pinnacle machines were taken in total by the BLCE.

A lawsuit was filed in April against the Pennsylvania Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement by Pace-O-Matic. Since then, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has been added to the lawsuit.

POM’s lawsuit argues that the skill games have never been declared unlawful in Pennsylvania and bases this claim on a decision made by the Beaver County Court in 2014. According to POM’s claim, there was collaboration, conspiracy, and targeted harassment.

Arguments For and Against Skill Games

Manufacturers, operators, and the businesses they work with – membership-based social clubs, pubs, and taverns – are for skill games, feeling pushed to the side by Pennsylvania’s expanding gaming market. In an industry that was formerly based on jukeboxes and video amusement games but has recently been revolutionized by smartphones and other developments in the entertainment industry, it is claimed that skill games have been a light in the dark.

They are up against the Pennsylvania Lottery, whose director has repeatedly argued that skill games are a present and future threat to the Lottery’s sales growth and, by extension, its support for senior programs. Pennsylvania’s licensed casinos claim that the skill games operate without the 34% gaming tax imposed on their slot machine profits.

Over the past three years, equipment was taken from pubs and other locations, sparking a protracted legal battle. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania is now deliberating a dispute on the legality of skill games.

Supporters of skill games argue that the legality of these games has been determined by several judicial decisions. They claim to be receptive to legislation aimed at the legalization and regulation of these games.

However, the legal dispute surrounding skill games is still pending. And at the Capitol, where there has been a lot of lobbying from both pro- and anti-skill game factions, legislators have disagreed for years over how to effectively deal with the machines. Legislative inaction as a result has made the market for skill games function in a state of regulatory uncertainty.

What IS the Role of Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board?

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is in charge of overseeing slot machines at Pennsylvania casinos. One of the highest tax rates in the nation, 54%, is applied to slot machines. The Crimes Code the use of skill machines. They do not have to pay the same taxes as casino slot machines.

Allegations made by Pace-O-Matic against the PennsylThe Crimes Code governsvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) include the following: 

• PGCB changed its stance on the matter due to pressure and lobbying from casinos including Penn National, Parx, Mohegan Sun, and Churchill Downs.
• Casinos, the Bureau, and PGCB have worked together to ensure that the district attorney who agrees to target skill games and their locations would get rewarded for their work.
• PGCB supports arranging the training of county detectives who agree to seize and prosecute the places that are legitimately in possession of skill games, as well as directing grant money to district attorneys.