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All Bets Are Off on PA Skill Games

11 minutes ago
4 min read

In 2024, the Pennsylvania District Attorney Association wrote a letter to Governor Shapiro highlighting the dangers of unregulated skills games and asked for help in encouraging lawmakers to enact a solution:


These unlicensed and unregulated skill games have put a strain on law enforcement in many communities. We sympathize with the owners of the establishments that rely on these machines for extra income, but we must recognize that there are societal costs with their operation. We are asking for your support in regulating the skill games and giving law enforcement clear guidance on what is legal and what is illegal. The legislative process should include consumer protection measures, security requirements, and mechanisms to prevent underage use.


Meanwhile, the Office of the PA Attorney General was appealing a Commonwealth Court decision finding that skills games were not gambling, and were therefore not regulated by the PA criminal code.


PA Supreme Court finds skills games illegal

On June 15, 2026, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that skill games are in fact “slot machines” as defined in the Gaming Act.  The majority opinion notes: 


“Our General Assembly already has spoken clearly on this subject, particularly through a 2017 enactment that added new terms to the Gaming Act’s definition of a “slot machine,” i.e., “skill slot machine” and “hybrid slot machine,” which make abundantly clear that the “skill” element of the subject devices is not legally significant. That is to say, as it concerns their unregulated operation in unlicensed facilities throughout Pennsylvania, it is not this Court that declares “skill games” to be unlawful. Rather, it is the General Assembly that did so nearly a decade ago. If interested parties find the application of the General Assembly’s laws to be undesirable, the proper remedy lies with the same legislative body that wrote those laws. The solution is not for courts to adopt strained and untenable readings of statutes to avoid their application.


According to the Crimes Code,  it is a criminal offense to own, operate, or maintain slot machines—including skill slot machines—in an unlicensed facility. The court gave the PA General Assembly 120 days to take “whatever legislative action it may deem appropriate” to regulate and legalize skills games. 


Legislative leaders failed to take action 

There were seven bills introduced in this session to regulate skill games. Most of these bills had co-sponsors from both parties — an indication of bipartisan solutions. Two bills had both Democratic and  Republican prime sponsors. And one House bill had 110 cosponsors —- more than enough to pass the House. Yet all seven bills sat untouched in various committees for an average of 14 months. 

Legislators recessed for the summer on July 12 without addressing the skills games deadline.  With the introduction of two more bills on September 24th, legislators had nine bills to consider and six session days to act before the court-mandated October 14 deadline. Legislative leaders could have used that time to negotiate a compromise bill . They also could have scheduled more session days. They chose not to do either. No committee chair, in either the House or Senate, gave any skills bill an initial vote.


Why the delay? Press reports suggest some points of contention: 


  1. how many total skill games would be allowed in the state and where they could be located

  2. how they would be taxed and by how much

  3. where this new revenue would be directed


Press reports also suggest that the failure to find a compromise solution is closely tied to the influence of 2 competing lobbies: skills games manufacturers who have profited from the explosive, unregulated growth in sales,  and the casino lobby, which has encouraged taxation of skills games at the same level as casino slot machines.


How many years has this impasse gone on? How much state income has been lost?

The legislative gridlock on regulating skill games is not new. Since the legislature amended the Gaming Act in 2017 to include skill games as slot machines, there have been at least two dozen bills introduced to address this issue, most with bipartisan sponsorship. None were even considered in committee. During this time, skill games proliferated to an estimated 70,000 across the state. Estimates of tax revenue lost each year range from $300 million to a possible $2 billion if games were taxed at the same level as casino slot machines.


PA State Police publish an alert

On October 5, 2026, the PA State Police (PSP) launched a new informational webpage for establishments with skill games devices. The webpage explains that beginning October 14, only licensed casinos and licensed “truck stop establishments” may legally possess and operate these skill games. All skill games devices located outside of licensed businesses are “unlawful and all establishments possessing, operating and/or maintaining such machines are subject to criminal prosecution and immediate seizure of the machines as of October 14, 2026.” The PSP webpage clarifies that the devices must be physically removed. “Powering off or unplugging an otherwise operable machine is not sufficient.” 


Isn’t compromise to enact law an essential part of the job?

The General Operating Rules of both the House and Senate give the leaders of the majority party total control of the session calendar and total say over which bills will be considered (or not). Leaders in both the House and Senate said they wanted to legalize and regulate skill games before the deadline. But no bill was given a hearing or vote before the time ran out.  As Lehigh University professor Chris Borick told the Pennsylvania Capitol Star:


“There’s a lot of opportunity cost for the state and there’s a lot of things that could have been resolved in a more efficient way. . . . A good spot for most Pennsylvanians is a compromise on regulation and taxation that lets businesses keep some of the revenue. That shouldn’t be an unattainable goal.”


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