Pennsylvania's High Court to Decide on the Legal Status of Skill Games
The question of whether so-called skill games in Pennsylvania are legal or not will be decided by the state's highest court, the Supreme Court.
In a recent announcement, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court revealed that they will be reviewing a petition from the state's Attorney General, Michelle Henry (D), regarding the legality of skill games. This comes after a lower court's decision last December, which upheld a ruling that these games are not slot machines due to the fact that their outcomes are not solely dependent on chance.
Henry and other state officials, including multiple district attorneys, argue that these games are merely deceitfully designed slot machines, with the skill elements being minimal and often limited to a player simply tapping on the appropriate symbols to identify a winning payline. Skill game supporters, on the other hand, claim that a player's abilities can greatly impact the machine's payout rate. They also argue that players can recover their losses by successfully completing memory challenges.
The case before the Supreme Court originated in Dauphin County in 2019, when state police seized several skill games and $525 from the Champions Sports Bar following a raid. Champions subsequently sued, and state courts have since ruled in their favor.
The court decisions have temporarily halted state law enforcement from seizing any more of these games, which Henry's office considers to be illegal gambling equipment.
The Supreme Court will be determining whether skill games are indeed illegal, unregulated gambling devices, and will also be considering the definition of a slot machine in the state.
The Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, passed in 2004, authorized slot machines. Since then, the law has been amended several times to broaden the state's gaming industry.
The Gaming Act describes a slot machine as any device that operates when a coin, bill, ticket, or token is inserted and that relies on "skill or the application of the element of chance, or both." The law also provides definitions for "skill slot machines" and "hybrid slot machines."
Pennsylvania boasts the highest number of unregulated skill games in any US state, with at least 67,000 machines found in restaurants, bars, convenience stores, gas stations, grocery markets, and shopping centers.
The revenue from these devices is split among the host business, machine developer, and route distributor, with proponents stating that the money has helped offset rising costs and save small business jobs.
The skill game lobby is pushing to be taxed and regulated, hoping to secure a spot in the Pennsylvania gaming industry. However, they are asking for a tax rate that is significantly lower than the 54% effective tax that casinos pay on their slot machine winnings.
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