Poker Writer
“Skill games” in Pennsylvania have put store workers in danger with lower security standards surrounding the gambling operations. These video skill games have become very plentiful in the Keystone State. As many as 70,000 operate in a variety of locations like mini-marts, restaurants, corner stores, and veterans’ clubs.
The games are called skill games because they are not purely luck-based like the slot machines they closely resemble. That skill aspect allows these games to operate in a legal gray area. The state legislature is debating whether to tax and regulate the games.
The skill aspect of the games draws comparisons to the popular fish games in North Carolina, which were also in a legal gray area before being outlawed in 2022.
Keep Reading
A Magnet For Violence and Crime
One of the main critiques of these skill games is that they are big targets for crime, which often leads to violence. The businesses that host these games are not required to have any security standards. That differs drastically from the security requirements at licensed casinos in Pennsylvania.
The lack of security plus cash on hand makes the establishments that host the games soft targets. There have been instances of store clerks minding their own business and being attacked as part of a skill game robbery.
In one instance, a clerk was mopping the floor when he was shot and killed while the robber took $14,000. The shooter had been a regular at the store and had lost $6,700 from playing the skill games. He knew that the clerk handled large amounts of unprotected cash and that his robbery would face no challenge.
The attorney for the widow of the murdered clerk summed up how the skill game stores are at risk:
It is the skill games money that is left unprotected, where these people who come into the store know exactly what the pay-off process is. It would be like going into a casino where there were no video cameras, no locked doors, no cashier cages. Those things are in place for a reason, and these facilities just don’t have them.
Gray-area video gaming machines have led to violence in other areas of the country as well, such as in Chicago. There, the debate surrounding them continues to rage.
Timeline of Pennsylvania Skill Game Debate
The battle over skill games in Pennsylvania has been going on for several years. The state’s court system has been debating whether the games differ from video gaming terminals (VGTs), which are legal and regulated in the state.
The fiscal year in Pennsylvania begins on July 1. Stakeholders must decide whether skill games will be taxed in the coming fiscal year before that date.
The primaries are slanted in favor of the casinos and big gambling interests, thanks to the $8.1 million they have spent on the political races. Meanwhile, the skill game manufacturer Pace-O-Matic spent about $1.5 million lobbying.
Regulated casinos and VGTs must pay hefty taxes, giving them a strong incentive to oppose skill game interests. They view these competitors as leveraging an unfair advantage in the market.
