Skill game machines could soon disappear from many Pennsylvania businesses

Skill game machines are a common sight in bars, convenience stores and other businesses across Pennsylvania. But their future is now uncertain after the state Supreme Court ruled in June that the machines are a form of gambling, similar to slot machines.

Unless lawmakers intervene, the machines will be banned from most businesses starting Oct. 14. They will only be allowed at casinos and other qualified, licensed facilities, such as truck stops.

The ruling has some businesses worried about the financial impact.

Santwan Williams, head chef at Joe's Bar in Chester, said about 60% of his customers play skill game machines.

"Without the machines, people don't want no food," Williams said. "Without the machines, people won't want to drink. So without the machines, we don't have no people. We need the machines. It'll affect everybody's job — my bartender's job, my delivery driver's job, my job."

Williams said Joe's Bar could lose significant revenue and that as many as half of its 12 employees could lose their jobs.

Pennsylvania State Police said they will seize skill game machines from taverns, restaurants, social clubs, mini-marts, gas stations, grocery stores, laundromats, pizza parlors and other businesses if they have not been removed by Oct. 14. Business owners could also face criminal charges.

"It's very heartbreaking because people are going into business to try to make the community better, and then they're taking away what the community loves," Williams said. "It's like taking candy away from a baby, almost."

Business owners gathered at Joe's Bar Thursday for a rally, urging lawmakers to find a way to save the machines.

But gambling experts are voicing concerns about the impact of the machines on people who play them.

Josh Ercole, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania, said his nonprofit receives about 100 calls a year through 1-800-GAMBLER from people struggling with skill game addiction.

"Clearly, there are revenues that are being generated by small businesses, but that comes at the expense of people who are playing these machines and losing money," Ercole said. "In some cases, those losses have turned into problems. So any time someone's benefiting from the losses of others, that responsibility is really shared."

Ercole said if lawmakers decide to allow skill games to remain in Pennsylvania, he believes they should be subject to regulations and customer protections similar to those in the casino industry.

"Players should have resources available to them if they start to exhibit gambling problems and access to tools that could help prevent them from going down that path," Ercole said. "Up until now, we have virtually nothing. There's no connection to the helpline number."

Some state lawmakers have said they support regulating and taxing skill game machines, but they have not yet agreed on a plan. For now, business owners and gambling advocates are waiting to see whether lawmakers act before the Oct. 14 deadline.

"I think that lawmakers just have to sit down at the table and figure it out," Marvin Newton, owner of Joe's Bar in Chester, said.