{"id":220722,"date":"2026-06-16T20:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/220722\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T20:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:05:08","slug":"an-activity-that-people-like-skill-games-face-uncertain-future-after-court-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/220722\/","title":{"rendered":"‘An activity that people like:’ Skill games face uncertain future after court ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Waldorf Park German American Federation in Scranton, several skill games machines remain popular among members of the East Mountain social club where they serve as both entertaining amusements and modest sources of revenue.<\/p>\n

More valuable as a social activity than a revenue generator, Waldorf Park Treasurer Joe Wechsler said the financial impact of losing the machines \u2014 a potential downstream effect of a recent state Supreme Court ruling \u2014 would be \u201cminimal.\u201d But the loss would be more significant in another sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of people who enjoy those skill games and that\u2019s why they\u2019re at our club, to enjoy those skill games,\u201d Wechsler said. \u201cWe would love to keep them. \u2026 It\u2019s an activity that people like.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also an activity that faces an uncertain future in Pennsylvania after the state\u2019s high court ruled Monday that the skill game terminals ubiquitous in bars, convenience stores, clubs and similar establishments \u2014 sometimes even standalone parlors \u2014 are slot machines subject to the state\u2019s Gaming Act and Crimes Code. The majority ruling reversed a pair of state Commonwealth Court decisions that were \u201cthe central pillars\u201d undergirding a status quo where skill games \u201chave been held to fall into a legal gray area outside of the reach of both,\u201d Justice David Wecht wrote in the majority opinion.<\/p>\n

\"PennsylvaniaPennsylvania Skill Games at Wilkes-Barre Gold on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the Commonwealth Court\u2019s interpretation of the governing statutes, upon which the legal status quo wholly depends, is deeply flawed,\u201d the opinion notes.<\/p>\n

Given the impact Monday\u2019s ruling could have on business owners and other \u201cgood-faith participants\u201d in the skill games industry, the Supreme Court stayed its own order for 120 days, providing a four-month period of \u201csafe harbor\u201d during which law enforcement cannot take action against skill game operators or owners. But the machines would be subject to seizure thereafter absent legislative action by the General Assembly in the intervening time.<\/p>\n

Georgia-based Pace-O-Matic, a major vendor of skill game machines in Pennsylvania, said in a statement<\/a> that the Supreme Court ruling \u201cwill have far-reaching consequences, with more than 10,000 Pennsylvania small businesses and fraternal clubs becoming the real victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are now potentially left facing an impossible choice: cease operating these games and lose an important source of revenue, or endure a legislative solution that could bring excessive regulation and crippling taxation, which will force them to cease operating these games and lose an important source of revenue,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\n

A legislative solution to regulate and tax skill games has proven elusive, with lawmakers struggling to reach agreement on an appropriate tax rate, per reporting by Spotlight PA<\/a>. Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s budget proposal calls for a 52% tax on gross skill game terminal revenues. Spotlight\u2019s recent reporting noted prior GOP proposals of 35% and 16%, respectively.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Marty Flynn, D-22, Dunmore, acknowledged Tuesday that Monday\u2019s Supreme Court ruling pushes the issue back to the Legislature.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenate Rs will probably have something, House Ds will have something and hopefully we meet in the middle,\u201d he said, arguing lawmakers should strive for a solution that regulates and derives important revenue from skill games while ensuring fraternal clubs and other small operators \u201cdon\u2019t get buried.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Wilkes-Barre Gold Precious Metals Exchange, home to three skill games machines, owner David Zongaro said the terminals attracted more regular players and generated more business revenue when he put them in a couple years ago, before the market became saturated.<\/p>\n

\"PennsylvaniaPennsylvania Skill Games at Wilkes-Barre Gold on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like Vegas now, it\u2019s everywhere,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was less of (the machines) when I first had them in, so we were getting regulars. \u2026 And then they just put them everywhere it seems like, and that thinned out the traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Potentially losing the skill games wouldn\u2019t amount to a major financial loss for Zongaro\u2019s business, he said, suggesting VFWs and similar organizations would likely be harder hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would definitely hurt them, but this is just like having an arcade game or something,\u201d Zongaro said. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing considerable. I just like to add it because \u2014 you know I have a TV also, so some people watch TV while they\u2019re waiting or some people play the games. \u2026 I like it here because it just adds to the entertainment and keeps them less bored.\u201d<\/p>\n

He expects state lawmakers to reach a solution that saves the machines, given their revenue-generating potential for Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Wechsler, the Waldorf Park social club\u2019s treasurer, said the club also experienced diminishing financial returns from skill games as they became more widespread, including at skill games parlors he referred to as \u201cmini-casinos.\u201d The revenue they do generate is modest and supports things like benefits and parties at the club, but it doesn\u2019t considerably defray the cost of operations, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur competition is those mini-casinos,\u201d Wechsler said. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s taking away from our benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, given their popularity with certain club members, Wechsler said the Waldorf would like to keep them. A legislative solution that regulates skill games but distinguishes between VFWs, social clubs and similar venues and larger, casino-esque operations could benefit clubs like his, he said, noting there are administrative costs and licensing requirements to operating the skill games.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then depending upon what the tax rate is \u2014 I think I\u2019m hearing some numbers of 32, 50 (percent) \u2014 crazy numbers like that, if the numbers are that high we\u2019d really have to take a look and see if it\u2019s beneficial for us to maintain those machines,\u201d Wechsler said. \u201cWe\u2019d like to keep them. We really would like to keep them. We\u2019ve had them since they debuted. But we\u2019d have to take a look at what the tax rate is going to be \u2026 and what restrictions they\u2019re going to put on those other (mini) casinos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Efforts to reach larger skill games operators were unsuccessful Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the Waldorf Park German American Federation in Scranton, several skill games machines remain popular among members of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[201,182,803,139,28,30,29,178,181,729,2685],"class_list":["post-220722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-scranton","tag-top-stories-stt","tag-uncategorized","tag-wilkes-barre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}