A Philadelphia city law that had banned so-called skill games at most city businesses was overturned by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on 6 December.
Skill games in Pennsylvania
The contentious machines have long been resented by the casino owners in Pennsylvania and the industry as a whole. They look and pay out like slot machines, but they claim to need some skill to win. There are no rules or taxes on skill games. Furthermore, they do not provide any assurances for player safety, including responsible gaming policies.
Nonetheless, a number of court rulings have reversed the confiscation of the game by law authorities. Pace-O-Matic (POM), a developer based in Georgia, is responsible for the popular "Pennsylvania Skill" game family.
Measure approved in March
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the mayor, Cherelle Parker, and the city council banned skill games in March, and this most recent decision deals with that matter. The local petrol station owner Harry Sandhu and skill-game distributor G&B Amusements contested the ban. The restriction was maintained by a judge of the common pleas court. Another attempt to have the ordinance's enforcement halted was similarly rejected by the court.
Commonwealth Court judge Patricia A. McCullough sided with the skill-game operators, stating that the state's gaming regulations do not apply to games that are not found in traditional casinos. The current state of affairs does not make POM games hosted outside of approved premises illegal or subject to regulation, according to McCullough's writing.
The state filed an appeal against that earlier ruling. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has not yet scheduled a hearing for that matter. The matter would return to the same court for review if Philadelphia were to file an appeal of McCullough's ruling.
A satisfied Pace-O-Matic
The decision was quickly lauded by Pace-O-Matic. Reacting to the Commonwealth Court's ruling that the Philadelphia city council's ban is illegal, Pace-O-Matic spokesperson Mike Barley stated, "Pace-O-Matic is pleased, and not surprised." This statement was reported by Play Pennsylvania. The lifting of this ban is a huge win for the local businesses in Philadelphia that rely on the Pennsylvania Skill games they host for extra money. The only thing this prohibition accomplished was to make things worse for companies who were already having a hard time due to the downturn.
Bensalem, a suburb of Philadelphia, has approved a ban along similar lines, but the ruling casts doubt on that as well. One of the most prosperous casinos in the state, Parx, is situated there. The Play Pennsylvania report states that the ban has been put on hold until the other cases' appeals are resolved.
Industry leaders have fought for years to curb the spread of unlicensed skill games. Against the machines, there is a coalition of organisations including the PGA and the American Gaming Association.
The casino owners in Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against the state in July, seeking a declaration that their 50%+ tax rate on slot earnings was unlawful. Since skill games are exempt from taxes, they claimed it was unfair to tax them.
