Pennsylvania skill game ban leaves Pittsburgh-area veterans organizations struggling

It's been almost one month since the statewide ban on skill games took effect. Pittsburgh-area businesses warned it could force them to close.

Mike DiFrango spent years in the United States Air Force. Today, his service looks a little different.

"I wore the uniform for 30 years of my life, and like I said, I've been the commander here for 15-16 years. I hate to see it go away," DiFrango said, the commander of VFW Post 331.

DiFrango added that running VFW Post 331 in Carnegie has become increasingly difficult; for years, one source kept them afloat: skill games.

"Skills pay bills. Well, they did. Now that they don't, the writing is on the wall. We'll never survive," DiFrango said.

The terminals went dark nearly a month ago, after a June Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling designating the games as unlicensed slot machines.

Now, only casinos and licensed truck stops can operate them.

VFW Post 331 had six machines, which helped bring in an estimated 50% of their income.

Since the ban, DiFrango said he's had to make difficult decisions, one of which hit close to home.

"I had to lay her off. I would challenge any politician to have to do that; not only just an employee, but she's my wife," DiFrango said.

VFW Post 331 upped prices by 50 cents on everything.

Not far away, American Legion Post 82, also in Carnegie, finds itself in a similar situation.

"The business isn't there. It's all slower. We're sad. We had to raise prices on some items. We hope we get machines back and our business comes back, and things are like they used to be," Judy Robison said.

While both posts are doing what they can to keep their doors open, the future, they say, is getting harder to predict.

"We've had some generous donations from some of our members, but we can't rely on that every month to stay alive," DiFrango said. The ship's sinking. It's just how fast it sinks. I'll see, sometime after the first of the year we're going to consider selling the building and property."

According to the Pennsylvania State Police, compliance with Pennsylvania's new skill game regulations was nearly 100% successful. Only a small number of locations were found to have them.