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Pennsylvania lawmakers have paused efforts to pass new skill games legislation, leaving the question of whether the slot-like machines are legal entirely in the hands of the state Supreme Court.
Without a clear legal standing, skill game machines have proliferated across bars, gas stations and corner stores statewide. No existing law has explicitly legalized them, and no court has issued a final, binding decision on their status.
Skill games seen as key to closing Pennsylvania’s budget gap
Skill games are not a peripheral issue in Harrisburg. Lawmakers have flagged them as one of the strongest candidates for new tax revenue — money that would support public transit, education and other budget priorities.
Efforts to regulate and tax the machines collapsed in 2025. Competing gaming interests clashed, and internal disagreements within the Republican-led state Senate proved too deep to overcome. Those same fault lines persist, though recent primary results may have shifted the balance of power.
$8 million later, industry-targeted senators all survived
The skill games industry spent heavily in this year’s Republican primaries, targeting three GOP senators — Lisa Baker, Camera Bartolotta and Chris Gebhard — seen as likely to support higher tax rates on the industry. Sports betting interests, which beat back a similar tax push last year, spent money to defend all three. Combined spending in those races topped at least $8 million. All three senators survived.
According to four Capitol lobbyists, those victories could strengthen Republican leadership as it pushes for a deal — though assembling enough votes through a divided caucus remains the central challenge.
Bartolotta told Spotlight PA the legislature is prepared no matter what the court decides. “We’re ready with either decision,” she said.
Gebhard, who sponsored legislation the skill games industry opposes, called the anticipated ruling “a vital piece of the puzzle” in shaping the legislature’s next steps, as reported by PennLive. He also cautioned Spotlight PA that the ruling will not simplify his task. “A ruling either way will not make things easier for us,” he said.
Budget talks could begin without Supreme Court answer
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has no fixed deadline to issue its decision, meaning the ruling may not land before the June 30 state budget deadline.
Elizabeth Rementer, spokesperson for House Democrats, said her caucus has long been open to discussing new revenue options during budget negotiations, but noted that Senate Republicans have yet to muster enough support for any gaming proposal. Spokespeople for the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro did not return requests for comment.
How two court cases from 2018 and 2019 led here
The court is weighing two distinct cases, both argued in November 2025, and is expected to issue a single ruling covering both.
The older case dates to 2019, when state police raided a Dauphin County bar and seized three skill game machines, $525 in cash and related receipts. The bar owner and machine supplier, Capital Vending, challenged the seizure, arguing the machines test player ability rather than rely on luck. Both the county Court of Common Pleas and the Commonwealth Court sided with the operators.
The second case dates to 2018, when Pace-O-Matic — one of the state’s largest skill-games developers — sued Pennsylvania, seeking a formal legal declaration. The Commonwealth Court ruled that the state’s existing gaming law does not apply to skill games.
Skill or luck? The core legal dispute
Defense attorney Matt Haverstick, arguing for the skill games supplier, told the court the game’s preview feature introduces a meaningful skill element.
“You have to quickly match up on every possibility of what can happen next … and then decide which one of the winners you want,” he said.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Susan Affronti countered that skill must be the primary driver under Pennsylvania law — not merely present. “What is this game predominantly about?” she asked the court, as reported by Spotlight PA.
“Is it about playing [the matching portion] for an hour to win a dollar? Or is it about the hope of spinning those reels for three seconds and getting $2,000? That’s the gambling. And that is definitely predominant here.”
Even with legal clarity, enforcement will be a major test
A ruling will bring legal clarity, but tens of thousands of machines are already operating statewide. Attorney General Dave Sunday‘s office found two Western Pennsylvania companies guilty earlier this year of distributing slot machines dressed up as skill-based games — a case that took more than two years to resolve and yielded roughly 400 seized machines from dozens of locations.
Whatever the court decides, implementing the ruling will test Pennsylvania’s enforcement capacity and the political will of its leaders.
