What Happens To Skill Games Now?
Skill games are beginning to disappear from businesses and social clubs across Pennsylvania after state lawmakers let this week’s court-imposed deadline pass without action.
In June, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the estimated 70,000 skill games across the commonwealth are legally slot machines and subject to the state’s gambling law, which confines such devices to casinos and some truck stops.
Justices stayed enforcement of that decision until Oct. 13 to give the divided General Assembly time to consider “whatever legislative action it may deem appropriate.”
Legalizing skill games has broad support. Many lawmakers covet the revenue that taxes on the machines would bring to deficit-plagued state budgets, and oppose creating hardships for the businesses and social organizations that host skill games and depend on the money they bring in.
But the details of what a regulatory and taxation scheme would entail have stymied a deal between the Democratic-controlled state House and Republican-led state Senate.
While legislative leaders said they wanted to act before the deadline, none made a public push to move legislation. Four rank-and-file members put their names on a last-ditch legal effort to extend the deadline, though it ultimately failed and earned at least one lawmaker a rebuke.
The current two-year legislative session is winding down, meaning action before the end of 2026 is likely out of the question. What happens next year may depend on the outcome of the Nov. 3 election.
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