‘Skill’ Games Are Not Gambling, Pennsylvania Appeals Court Says

By: Max Mitchell

In 2019, the Pennsylvania State Police raided Cohen Seglias client Champions Sports Bar in Highspire, Pennsylvania, and confiscated numerous electronic skill game machines. Last week, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court declared Skill Game machines, popular in bars and restaurants across the United States, legal statewide in Pennsylvania and are not the equivalent of “slot machines” only permitted in casinos licensed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The court also concluded that Pennsylvania Skill Games are not illegal “gambling devices” because they are predominately games of skill and not games of chance. As a result, the court affirmed a lower court ruling ordering that the Pennsylvania State Police return the machines seized from Champions Sports Bar.

Partner Christopher Carusone represents Champions in the case, and spoke with The Legal Intelligencer regarding the case. He said the decision is a big win for bars and restaurants, and may have broad impacts, adding “Coming out of the pandemic, a lot of these places really suffered, and some didn’t make it. These devices, these Pace-O-Matic games, are a significant source of revenue, so the ruling today is very significant to them.” Further, Chris said, the ruling will “level the playfield,” where typically casinos monopolized this type of entertainment, and will also likely impact numerous other administrative actions stemming from citations that bars and restaurants have received.

Answering a question upon which numerous ongoing legal challenges may hinge, a Pennsylvania appeals court has determined that so-called “skill” games, which are video game machines often found in bars and restaurants, do not constitute illegal gambling.

On Nov. 30, a unanimous en banc panel of the Commonwealth Court affirmed a ruling from the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas, which had ordered several gaming machines to be returned after they had been seized by state law enforcement.

Christopher Carusone of Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman, who is representing the bar from which the machines were seized, said the decision is a big win for bars and restaurants, and may have broad impacts.