Pa. Justices Agree to Address Questions Around Skill Games and Illegal ‘Gambling Device’ Status

By: Riley Brennan

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will review whether electronic slot machines with hidden skill elements, commonly found in bars and restaurants, should be classified as gambling devices. Cohen Seglias partner Christopher Carusone, who represents Champions Sports Bar, spoke with The Legal Intelligencer and shared his support for the legality of these machines, stating, “Every Pennsylvania court that has ever considered this issue has concluded that Pace-O-Matic Skill Game machines are legal. I don’t expect that to change,” and emphasizing their importance to the bar and restaurant business.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to address questions regarding electronic slot machines, their gambling machine status, and what statutes govern the machines.

In a Tuesday order, the high court granted allocatur in a case addressing whether the electronic slot machines cease being an illegal “gambling device,” governed predominantly by chance, if the machine’s manufacturers embed a “skill” element that is almost entirely hidden from view and nearly impossible to complete into its programming, and whether the gambling statutes governing “slot machines” should be read similarly to supply an appropriate definition of the term.

The allocatur grant comes following a November 2023 ruling by the Commonwealth Court, where a unanimous en banc panel determined that so-called “skill” games, which are video game machines often found in bars and restaurants, don’t constitute illegal gambling.