A controversial ban on skill-game machines in Philadelphia has been set aside by a state court, allowing the machines to operate while their legality is being considered by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court lifted the city-level ban on Friday (December 6) after an appeal brought by G&B Amusement, a distributor of Pace-O-Matic skill games, and Harry Sandhu, a gas station owner in Philadelphia.
In March, the Philadelphia City Council unanimously approved banning the machines from local businesses unless they also have a casino or liquor license and an area for at least 30 patrons to eat and drink.
Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. lobbied for the ban, which was signed into law by Mayor Cherelle Parker in April. Neither Jones nor the mayor’s office respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Currently, estimates on the number of slots-like skill games in Pennsylvania range from 40,000 to 80,000 machines in bars, taverns, convenience stores and gas stations across the state.
In pure skill games, there is no element of randomness, and the outcome is entirely reliant on the player’s talents. There are also hybrid games which incorporate some elements of randomness but in which skill still plays a key role in the outcome.
“Pace-O-Matic is pleased, and not surprised, that the Commonwealth Court agrees the ban passed by the Philadelphia City Council is unlawful,” Mike Barley, chief public affairs officer, said in a statement.
“Lifting it is a victory for Philadelphia small businesses that count on the supplemental income they receive when patrons play the Pennsylvania Skill games they operate in their establishments. This ban did nothing more than harm businesses that are already struggling because of the economy.”
Barley said Pace-O-Matic had tried to work with Philadelphia lawmakers to end clearly illegal gambling machines within the city.
“Instead, members took a broad brush and banned legal games as well,” the company said. “This was a slap to small businesses with legal games that follow the law. They also say they feel safer with skill games and having players in their establishment, especially late at night when staff is slim, to ward off crime.”
The Commonwealth Court's 13-page decision, written by Judge Patricia McCullough, noted that G&B Amusement and Sandhi alleged that the city began enforcing the ban on October 14, when the police issued “notices of violation and warning” to businesses that had the machines and ordered then removed by October 21.
Philadelphia police issued second warnings that threatened to impose a $1,000 daily fine and revocation of a business license for violating the city’s ban on skill games.
“As the law stands today, [Pace-O-Matic] games that are located outside of regulated facilities are neither illegal nor regulated,” McCullough wrote.
McCullough added that city officials have “failed to show there will be harm to the public by granting a stay”.
The court’s decision also puts on hold a ban on skill games in Bensalem that was supposed to go into effect after it was passed in October. The ordinance also made exceptions for businesses with an active liquor license.
“We are confident that we also will win the state Supreme Court challenge when it is heard, ending all unlawful skill game bans in the state, including the recently passed ban in Bensalem,” Pace-O-Matic said.
The future of skill games in Pennsylvania is being considered by the state's Supreme Court, which will soon decide whether the terminals are unlicensed gambling machines. The state’s highest court announced in June it would take a case involving machines that were seized in Dolphin County.
Pennsylvania attorney general Michelle Henry appealed a lower-court decision that found the games are based on a player’s ability, not solely chance.
The Supreme Court had earlier declined an appeal in March of a separate ruling that found the machines are not illegal gambling.
The decision allowed Banilla Game terminals to remain in operation in Pennsylvania. In 2019 and 2020, the state's Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BCLE) raided several licensed stores and seized 11 electronic skill games, ten of which were owned by Pinnacle Amusement and manufactured by Banilla Games.
Pinnacle Amusement filed motions for the return of its skill-game machines in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas and in other local courts where its machines had been seized. In 2022, the county court ruled that the skill-game machines did not constitute gambling devices and ordered the return of all of Pinnacle Amusement's machines.