As of Wednesday, tens of thousands of skill games that proliferated in bars, corner stores and other small businesses across Pennsylvania for years were considered illegal, after a 120-day window to enact legislation governing the slot-like machines passed without action on Tuesday.
In June, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a sweeping judgment against skill games, classifying them as illegal slots and not games of skill outside of state gambling regulation. The ruling upended multiple lower court victories in favour of the games.
This represented a decisive end to a years-long legal battle between skill game manufacturers and the state’s casino industry, which had long contented that the machines were harming both consumers and gambling tax revenue. Casino slots are taxed at a 54% rate in the Keystone State, whereas skill games were untaxed and unregulated.
The court issued the 120-day enforcement stay to give lawmakers time to pass a bill regulating the machines under the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, but none did. With that deadline now passed, state police have warned that any businesses still offering skill games are subject to seizures and criminal charges.
“Under the Gaming Act, only licensed casinos and qualifying licensed “truck stop establishments” may legally possess and operate slot machines or video gaming terminals,” reads a statement on the state’s website. “Further, only machines that have been inspected and approved for operation by the PGCB may be located and operated within PGCB-licensed locations, including casinos and truck stops.”
Skill games dwarf slots in PA
Skill games closely resemble the look and feel of casino slots, to the extent that gaming stakeholders have challenged them in court as unlicenced gambling. The games feature spinning reels and symbols but as their name suggests, they also typically offer some type of skill-based element as a second phase of gameplay, often with opportunities for players to recoup lost wagers.
The games are prevalent in several states around the US, but Pennsylvania had become one of the biggest skill game markets in the country prior to the ban. There are about 25,000 regulated casino slots in Pennsylvania, and while skill game numbers are difficult to pinpoint, estimates range from 50,000 to more than 70,000 across the state.
Pennsylvania has grown into one of the biggest regulated casino and slot markets in the US. Through the first two months of the 2026-27 fiscal year, Pennsylvania slots have generated $427 million in gross revenue and $145 million in state taxes, per the PGCB. Video gaming terminals, or slots that operate in PGCB-licenced truck stops, have generated an additional $6.7 million in revenue and $2.8 million in state taxes during that time.
Some local reports had suggested that casinos and truck stops could keep or install skill games if they were inspected by the board, but a PGCB spokesman confirmed to iGB that that is incorrect; all skill games are now illegal and only board-approved slots and VGTs are considered legal.
An unexpected outcome
The one-two punch of the Supreme Court ruling and the subsequent expiration of the legislative window could be considered a surprising, if not shocking outcome for the state. There had been a sense, even before the court ruling, that a legislative compromise would come eventually. The sheer number of machines and the revenue they generated for local businesses were seen as significant hurdles to outlawing them outright.
Two proposed bills — HB 2213 and SB 1079 — would implement a $500 monthly fee for every skill game terminal while setting a statewide cap of 50,000 units. Proponents estimate this framework would generate $300 million in annual tax revenue. Neither bill has gained traction, with the state’s two-year legislative session set to adjourn on 30 November.
Susan Hensel, a Pennsylvania gaming attorney and former director of licensing for the PGCB, told iGB in July after the Supreme Court ruling that skill-game regulation “had long been discussed” in the state but manufacturers had no real incentive to change the status quo. At the time, Hensel predicted a compromise would be reached during the negotiating window.
“There are very few parts of Pennsylvania that don’t have these games in them and so we anticipate that right now state representatives are receiving calls from establishments that are in their districts saying ‘What can you do to keep the money flowing?’ In a lot of cases these businesses have really come to rely on the revenue stream from these games for profitability and in some cases survival,” Hensel said.
Jess Marquez
Jess has covered the global gaming industry since 2022. A native of Reno, Nevada, he’d like to note that it’s Ne-va-da, not Ne-VAH-da.