Pennsylvania Skill Games Bill Proposes Ban on Controversial Machines
Skills competitions in Pennsylvania could soon be a thing of the past if legislation introduced this week in the state capital of Harrisburg gains enough support.
State Sen. Amanda Cappelletti (D-Del.) and Rep. Mark Rozzi (D-Berks) have introduced legislation that would ban "so-called 'skill' slot machines" in the commonwealth. As in several other states, the controversial gray market game is often found in restaurants and bars, grocery stores, gas stations and retail stores.
It's a game of skill, known as "Pennsylvania Skill" in the Keystone State, that requires players to determine a winning line.
The machines look, sound and function like traditional slot machines at any of the state's 17 land-based casinos. But unlike strictly regulated casino slots, which are monitored for fair play and guaranteed payout rates, skill games have no consumer protection.
They are also not subject to the 54% effective tax rate levied on gross slot machine revenue. Slot tax revenue helps the state reduce property taxes and fund the horse racing industry.
Competition Bill
Skill games remain a highly controversial topic in Pennsylvania. Many small businesses say the machines are a lifesaver in dealing with the pandemic and offsetting high inflation.
Pace-O-Matic is a Georgia company that develops skill gaming software and has partnered with Miele Manufacturing in Pennsylvania to produce the "Pennsylvania Skills" game. The company says the machines allow small businesses to... stay in business, hire more workers and, among other things, increase wages.
The skill games industry also has supporters in Harrisburg. In May, state Sen. Gene Yaffe (R-Lycoming) introduced bipartisan legislation to create a skill-based gaming framework. Yaw's Senate Bill 706 would regulate the marinas and require the state to collect 16 percent of their gross revenue.
However, Cappelletti and Rozzi believe that skill games can do more harm than good.
Despite the illusion that the state is in control, there are no consumer protections, no underage gambling prevention, no help for problem gamblers, and no money laundering controls or other regulations to protect Pennsylvanians from these predatory machines," Rowe Qi said.
Rozzi and Cappelletti argue that the argument that the game does not constitute gambling carries little weight due to the skill element at the end of the game. They pointed to Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry's statement regarding the dilemma of skill games.
"If a company decided to sell lottery tickets and use the same slot machines as the National Lottery to draw the draw, it would certainly be an illegal lottery. "If all losing players have the opportunity to try and kick a 70-yard field goal to win back their stake, then the nature of the draw It's not going to change," Henry's office said during a briefing for a skills competition earlier this year.
"The lottery is still a lottery. Same here. "These devices are slot machines," Henry's office concluded.
The casino industry believes that skill games are stealing gameplay from its regulated slot machines, thereby reducing the state's tax benefits. Notably, casinos won $2.39 billion on their retail slot machines in 2022, the second-best year ever for casinos behind 2012, when machines won $2.47 billion. But there are also many more casinos today than there were in 2012.
Legal Considerations
Pennsylvania's top legal counsel may believe games of skill constitute an illegal means of gambling, but state courts are not yet convinced.
Federal Court Judge Patricia McCullough ruled in 2019 that the state's gambling laws only regulate games of chance, not games of skill. As a result, McCullough said the state's law enforcement agencies do not have the legal authority to seize skill games on the grounds that the equipment violates gaming laws.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has decided that the General Assembly must regulate the issue of skill games. Cappelletti and Rozzi’s bill would amend gambling laws to include “all forms of games of skill” and require such devices to operate only in state-licensed casinos.
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Source: www.casino.org
