Pennsylvania Crackdown on Skill Game Machines Sees ’99 Percent’ Compliance by Stores

Pennsylvania’s ban on skill game machines is having the desired effect, with over 99% of locations getting rid of the games since the ban came in.

The Supreme Court banned skill games during the summer in a wide crackdown on “illegal” slot machines.

Under the new definition, only casinos and licensed truck stops can host “slot machines”. Stores, gas stations, and restaurants have now largely complied with the law.

PA Ban on Skill Games Having Effect

It’s only been a month since Pennsylvania banned skill game machines across the state. A Pennsylvania Supreme Court vote in June made skill machines illegal under current PA law.

While Pennsylvania does have brick-and-mortar casinos, they are the only sites licensed to hold slot machines. As skill games were reclassed as slots, the court ruling immediately put thousands of bars in violation of the law.

The ruling meant social clubs, gas stations, pizza parlors, and other outlets with skill games would have to get rid of the machines or risk a visit from the police.

Bar owners hopeful of a reprieve to the new ruling were left disappointed when an Oct. 13 deadline to regulate the machines passed.

Pennsylvania’s End to Skill Machines

• In June, the PA Supreme Court ruled that skill games are in fact slot machines under the terms of the Gaming Act.
• Pennsylvania brought in the skill games ban in October after an appeal failed.
• 12,134 locations have since dumped their skill machines.
• That equates to a compliance rate of 99.4%, police say.
• Police have also seized over 1,400 still-active machines in illegal locations.

Trend Toward ‘Sweepstakes’ Branding

The Pennsylvania Stake Police (PSP) published its findings this week after visiting over 12,200 establishments around the state.

They found that 12,134 establishments no longer had the machines, a near 100% compliance rate. In addition, the police seized 14 illegal machines still in operation, as well as cash.

However, Pennsylvania State Police also claimed they found machines relabelled as “sweepstakes” games that did not accept cash.

The police were quick to dismiss the “legality” of these machines, stating that businesses should be “reminded that it is illegal to possess” devices that met the “definition of a slot machine”, regardless of the payment method they use.

Pennsylvania Could Still Regulate Skill Games

PA authorities may well be cheering the effectiveness of enforcing the ban on skill game machines.

However, those machines could come out of cold storage and return to bars and gas stations if state representatives get their way.

Two competing bills were introduced in September with the aim of regulating the machines.

Rep. Brad Roae’s HB 2795 would help create a new category of gaming specifically targeted at skill machines. HB 2793, meanwhile, would aim to keep games switched on until the April 2027 legislative session.

Ultimately, there was no time to consider either bill in the latest session. And with Pennsylvania State Police so successful in clearing locations of the machines, it remains to be seen whether they could return.