Pennsylvania Skill Games Unlawful as Court Safe Harbor Expires

All skill game devices located outside businesses licensed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board are unlawful and subject to criminal prosecution and immediate seizure as of 14. lokakuuta 2026, according to skill games compliance guidance from the Pennsylvania State Police. The agency’s 13. lokakuuta 2026 compliance deadline passed without legislation to license and regulate the machines advancing out of committee in either chamber of the General Assembly.

Enforcement and Removal Requirements

The State Police set the compliance deadline following the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s 15. kesäkuuta 2026 ruling that skill games, often found in taverns, restaurants, social clubs, and other businesses, are slot machines as defined in the Gaming Act. The agency stated that slot machines are considered gambling devices under the Crimes Code and that owning, operating, or maintaining them without a Gaming Control Board license is a criminal offense.

The guidance also cautions distributors and manufacturers that maintaining, assembling, setting up, making, selling, or leasing slot machines is a criminal offense unless licensed and authorized by the board. Under the Gaming Act, only licensed casinos and qualifying licensed truck stop establishments may legally possess and operate slot machines or video gaming terminals, and only machines inspected and approved by the board may operate within those licensed locations.

The State Police said it and other law enforcement agencies may take enforcement action against businesses that continue to possess, distribute, operate, or maintain the devices after the deadline. Listed enforcement actions include seizing and forfeiting the machines and associated equipment, seizing proceeds connected to their operation, filing criminal charges when deemed appropriate, and administrative citations against liquor licenses that may result in a fine or suspension.

Businesses must arrange to have skill game devices and related equipment, including ticket redemption terminals, removed. The agency stated that an operable machine remains a slot machine even if turned off, unplugged, or temporarily disabled, so powering a machine down does not satisfy the requirement. It strongly recommended that businesses hosting the machines discuss immediate removal with the distributors or vendors that own them, and reminded distributors, vendors, and manufacturers who refuse removal of the potential for criminal charges. Establishments that cannot secure removal are encouraged to contact the agency for assistance, liquor licensees through their local Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement office and other businesses through their local station.

The June Ruling and Its 120-Day Stay

The deadline followed the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s 15. kesäkuuta 2026 decision in two consolidated appeals argued on 20. marraskuuta 2025: a forfeiture case involving three Pennsylvania Skill Amusement Devices seized from a Dauphin County bar, and a separate action brought by POM of Pennsylvania, LLC against the Commonwealth, the Department of Revenue, and the City of Philadelphia. In an opinion by Justice Wecht, the court reversed the Commonwealth Court’s 2019 and 2023 decisions in the POM and Three Devices cases and held that skill game devices are subject to both the Gaming Act and the Crimes Code.

The court stayed its order for 120 days, directing that no law enforcement agency take adverse action against owners or operators of skill game devices in reliance on the opinion during that safe harbor. It cited the reasonable reliance many Pennsylvanians had placed on the Commonwealth Court’s decisions and the potential disturbance its ruling could cause business owners and other good-faith participants in the industry.

The court added that the General Assembly remains free at any time to take whatever legislative action it deems appropriate, and emphasized that the decision neither relied on nor endorsed any particular policy view on the proliferation of skill games. Writing for the court, Justice Wecht pointed to Act 42 of 2017, a gaming expansion law that added the defined terms “skill slot machine” and “hybrid slot machine” to the Gaming Act’s definition of a slot machine.

The opinion stated that “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.”

Under those definitions, a skill slot machine is one in which the player’s skill, rather than chance, is the predominant factor affecting the outcome of the game, and a hybrid slot machine is one in which a combination of skill and chance affects the outcome.

The Device and the Litigation Behind It

The device at issue in both appeals is the Pennsylvania Skill Amusement Device, which runs software distributed by POM of Pennsylvania, LLC. The opinion describes it as looking like a modern electronic slot machine, with three virtually spinning reels, a pay table displayed beside them, and wagers ranging from $0.08 to $4.00 per play, paying out in whole dollar amounts.

Its base game is a “Tic-Tac-Toe” style puzzle that the trial court found predominantly reliant on chance. After a losing spin, or a win worth less than 105% of the wager, the device offers a memory feature called “Follow Me” that plays like the game Simon: the player watches a three-by-three grid of colored dots flash in a random sequence and must reproduce it across 25 rounds. Completing the sequence returns 105% of the amount wagered. The trial court found that a patient and skillful player could win at least 105% of the amount played on every play by using the feature, a finding multiple courts treated as establishing that the devices were predominantly games of skill.

The Commonwealth argued in briefing that the feature was designed to be ignored and existed to supply a legal hook for the predominant factor test, suggesting that “Follow Me” “isn’t there for the players; it’s there for the lawyers.”

The opinion recounts that a Beaver County Court of Common Pleas decision in 2014 concluded the device is not a gambling device under the predominant factor test, and that the device surged in popularity afterward as POM and its industry partners used the ruling to assure potential customers of its legality. Throughout 2017 and 2018, law enforcement seized POM devices from Philadelphia establishments. On 9. joulukuuta 2019, State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement agents seized three POM devices from Champions Sports Bar in Dauphin County, along with a green bank bag containing $525 and seven receipts. No criminal charges were filed from that seizure, but the Commonwealth sought forfeiture of the items and issued an administrative citation to the bar.

In its counterclaim in the POM litigation, the Department of Revenue stated that slot machines under the Gaming Act are subject to a daily tax of 34% of gross terminal revenue plus a local share assessment, and accused POM of depriving the Commonwealth of revenue by operating without the required licenses.

Bills to Regulate Skill Games Never Advanced

Two bills proposing a licensed skill video gaming system were before the General Assembly in the 2025-2026 Regular Session, and neither advanced out of committee before the deadline. House Bill 2213, prime-sponsored by Representative Danilo Burgos, and Senate Bill 1079, prime-sponsored by Senator Gene Yaw with bipartisan co-sponsors, were each titled an act providing for skill video gaming, imposing duties on the Department of Revenue, providing for the issuance of licenses, imposing a fee and criminal and civil penalties, and providing for zoning.

House Bill 2213’s only recorded action was referral to the House Gaming Oversight Committee on 11. helmikuuta 2026, with no votes or committee meetings recorded, according to the measure’s official bill information page. Senate Bill 1079’s only recorded action was referral to the Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee on 11. marraskuuta 2025, also with no votes or committee meetings recorded, according to its official bill information page. The General Assembly’s bill pages, generated 15. lokakuuta 2026, show neither measure was reported from committee before the compliance deadline.

The State Police said Pennsylvanians with tips about skill game machines can report them by email at [email protected] or by telephone at 1-888-292-1919.