Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters.

HARRISBURG — Skill games are beginning to disappear from businesses and social clubs across Pennsylvania after state lawmakers let this week’s court-imposed deadline pass without action.

In June, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the estimated 70,000 skill games across the commonwealth are legally slot machines and subject to the state’s gambling law, which confines such devices to casinos and some truck stops.

Justices stayed enforcement of that decision until Oct. 13 to give the divided General Assembly time to consider “whatever legislative action it may deem appropriate.”

Legalizing skill games has broad support. Many lawmakers covet the revenue that taxes on the machines would bring to deficit-plagued state budgets, and oppose creating hardships for the businesses and social organizations that host skill games and depend on the money they bring in.

But the details of what a regulatory and taxation scheme would entail have stymied a deal between the Democratic-controlled state House and Republican-led state Senate.

While legislative leaders said they wanted to act before the deadline, none made a public push to move legislation. Four rank-and-file members put their names on a last-ditch legal effort to extend the deadline, though it ultimately failed and earned at least one lawmaker a rebuke.

The current two-year legislative session is winding down, meaning action before the end of 2026 is likely out of the question. What happens next year may depend on the outcome of the Nov. 3 election.

What did lawmakers do before the deadline?

The state House and Senate met in Harrisburg several times between the court ruling and the deadline, but leadership did not advance any legislation related to skill games.

In the face of that inaction, four legislative allies of the skills industry filed a petition asking the state Supreme Court to extend the enforcement deadline by another 120 days.

The lawmakers — state Rep. Danilo Burgos (D., Philadelphia), Rep. Jonathan Fritz (R., Wayne), Sen. Anthony Williams (D., Philadelphia), and Sen. Gene Yaw (R., Lycoming) — argued that a legislative effort to regulate the machines was underway but needed more time.

They cited two memos seeking support for bills; one, from Burgos, was cosigned by 104 representatives, a high enough number to pass a bill through the 203-member state House.

Pace-O-Matic, the largest operator of skill games in the commonwealth, submitted its own filing to support the effort, while Republican Attorney General Dave Sunday and eight of the commonwealth's casinos submitted filings to oppose it.

The filing and legislative memo landed Burgos in hot water with his caucus leaders and once more illuminated the deep divides in the legislature over skill games.

Four House Democratic sources told Spotlight PA that after the initial court filing, the caucus held a meeting in which Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) told members they shouldn’t have signed on to Burgos’ proposal. He argued it undermined the leadership team, sources said, and would make it harder to eventually negotiate a deal.

One state House Democrat described it as “like a dad lecture,” adding, “From my perspective and many others,” the kerfuffle over the memo “was just a miscommunication and that’s all.”

Another said lawmakers had signed on to the memo because “we want leadership to see we need to do something … and what's not clear is why we're not running a skill game bill when we’ve run so many things to the Senate.”

State Rep. Tarah Probst (D., Monroe), who signed on to Burgos’ bill, attended the meeting but wouldn’t comment on it. She argued that the onus for inaction lies with the state Senate, calling them “deadbeat.”

“I didn’t love [Burgos’ bill], but I thought, ‘The Senate needs to act,’” she said. “What do we need to do to get the Senate to act?”

(Burgos’ bill proposes a $500 monthly fee on each machine, while many Democrats, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, support taxing skill games’ gross revenue at a similar rate as slot machines.)

On Oct. 7, the same day as the caucus meeting, David Senoff, the attorney who filed the petition on behalf of the lawmakers, withdrew the petition. Senoff refiled it the next day, without Burgos’ name or his legislative memo.

The legal effort failed. The state Supreme Court denied the petition without comment on Oct. 9. Senoff declined to comment.

Pace-O-Matic spokesperson Jeanette Krebs said that the firm was “supportive of those efforts and wish they would have been successful." She did not respond to follow-up questions about the filing.

“With the deadline to regulate skill games now passed, Pace-O-Matic is complying with the law, and our focus is entirely on working toward a legislative solution,” she added.

Burgos told Spotlight PA he did not know the cosponsorship list would become an exhibit in the court filing. He declined to comment on the closed-door meeting.

A spokesperson for state House Democrats didn’t return a request for comment on the meeting or why leadership didn’t move a skill games bill before the deadline.

What’s happening to skill games now?

Before the deadline passed, Pace-O-Matic said it would remotely disable its Pennsylvania machines at midnight Wednesday, the Philadelphia Tribune reported.

In statements, law enforcement agencies emphasized that they hoped to achieve compliance without heavy-handed enforcement.

Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday that it had agreements with six operators or distributors to comply with state law. (The devices are often distributed by third-party firms that also lease other amusements like pool tables or jukeboxes to small businesses.) Spokesperson Logan Brouse added that the agency “has designated storage locations for skill game machines that are removed by PSP.”

Sunday, the attorney general, said in a statement last week, “My office will act in accordance with the law which prohibits these machines outside of licensed gaming facilities.” His office also noted that the machines must be removed, not just powered down, to be in compliance with the law.

Kelly Callihan, executive director of the state District Attorneys Association, said that local law enforcement agencies “are willing to coordinate the voluntary surrender of these devices.”

In Virginia, Pace-O-Matic has attempted to work around a ban by introducing cashless machines. Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement that it is aware “there have been attempts to exploit perceived loopholes.”

It and other law enforcement agencies “will criminally investigate slot machines and any other gambling device or associated equipment, including any new devices that accept other forms of consideration other than cash, including credit cards, debit cards, or anything else of value,” the statement said.

What will happen next year?

Whether Pennsylvania eventually legalizes skill games may largely depend on the outcome of next month's gubernatorial and legislative elections.

Shapiro and his Republican gubernatorial opponent, Treasurer Stacy Garrity, both support legalizing skill games but differ on approach. Shapiro supports a tax on gross revenue aligned with what’s levied on casinos, while Garrity supports a flat fee aligned with the industry’s demands.

Other details — such as how many machines to allow and where, how to prevent underage and problem gambling, the impact on state lottery earnings, and whether to allow stricter local control — further complicate the debate. Those specific policy details would need to be hammered out by the General Assembly.

When asked where talks stand, a spokesperson for state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) said in an email, “It has always been our intent to find a framework to make gaming reform a reality and help communities across the Commonwealth.”

“Addressing this issue requires all parties coming together to reach a responsible and reasonable solution that can pass both chambers and be signed by the Governor,” the spokesperson, Kate Flessner, continued.

State House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) told Spotlight PA in September, “We remain open, willing to negotiate, get the compromise done, regulate them, tax them.”

Democrats hope to maintain control of the governor’s office and state House this November, while also flipping the state Senate. Such a trifecta could ease the path forward, but it would not eliminate the ideological or policy disagreements.

Williams, the state senator who signed onto the failed legal petition, told Spotlight PA that the future of skill games depends heavily on control of the upper chamber next year.

Beyond that, he added, “I’m sure this issue will come up in budgetary conversations.”

EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS… If you liked this reporting from Stephen Caruso, subscribe to Access Harrisburg, a premium newsletter with his unique insider view on how state government works.