{"id":238386,"date":"2026-07-08T13:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/238386\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T13:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:48:07","slug":"skill-games-decision-in-pa-could-ban-arcade-games-without-legislative-regulation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/238386\/","title":{"rendered":"Skill games decision in Pa. could ban arcade games without legislative regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Emily Scolnick, Pennsylvania Capital-Star<\/a>
July 7, 2026<\/p>\n

Emily Scolnick is a 2026 Dow Jones News Fund intern at the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared skill games unlawful last month, throwing thousands of businesses across the state into uncertainty as they await guidance from the legislature.<\/p>\n

But the ruling might have also put popular family games on the wrong side of the law.<\/p>\n

Last month, the court struck down<\/a> what it called two \u201cdeeply flawed\u201d lower court rulings that had allowed skill game machines to spread across the commonwealth without restraint from law enforcement or gaming authorities.<\/p>\n

Skill games typically resemble<\/a> slot machines found in casinos, and players can bet to win jackpots from games based on chance. However, if a player loses, they can win back their money by successfully completing a complex puzzle.<\/p>\n

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While the ruling<\/a> primarily deals with skill game machines that allow players to win jackpots, Justice David Wecht said in his opinion for the court\u2019s 4-2 majority that enforcement hypothetically could stretch to traditional arcade games, often found at family entertainment centers like Chuck E. Cheese or Dave & Busters.<\/p>\n

Pace-O-Matic<\/a>, the company that produces skill game software, argued in court that if their machines are considered a form of gambling, then \u201call ordinary ticket-generating games at amusement businesses\u201d \u2014\u00a0like Skee-Ball and other arcade games that require skill to win \u2014 would also be illegal.<\/p>\n

The commonwealth\u2019s attorneys called it the \u201cChuck E. Cheese defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wecht noted that previous cases established that skill games that awarded prizes \u201cworth less than the cost of play\u201d were not gambling devices.<\/p>\n

However the court acknowledged that \u201cas a theoretical matter, this sort of amusement device may qualify\u201d as a skill game. This puts machines found at Dave & Busters, Chuck E. Cheese, and arcades at risk of bans.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless there\u2019s a change in the law, those games are gambling devices,\u201d said Bruce Antkowiak, a law professor at St. Vincent College.<\/p>\n

Pinball, Skee-Ball, golf simulators, and claw machines are among the games that could face enforcement.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Pace-O-Matic urged lawmakers to regulate and tax skill games to ensure they, and other forms of gaming, can remain legal.<\/p>\n

Any new tax would bolster Pennsylvania\u2019s revenue, forcing lawmakers to consider skill game legislation as they negotiate Pennsylvania\u2019s fifth late budget in a row<\/a>. Antkowiak said the financial incentive does mean arcade games won\u2019t be let off the hook entirely. They just may not be the police\u2019s first targets.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers have debated<\/a> whether potential tax revenue should go into the state\u2019s general fund or support transportation, as well as how much any tax rate should be.<\/p>\n

In his budget proposal, Gov. Josh Shapiro called for a 52% tax, which would generate over $2 billion in annual revenue.<\/p>\n

Competing tax proposals in the Republican-controlled Senate would tax the machines at either 16% or 35%. A separate bipartisan bill would put a $500 monthly fee on individual skill game machines.<\/p>\n

On June 30, the budget deadline, House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R-Bedford) said many of the policy issues splitting the state legislature \u2014 including skill games \u2014\u00a0won\u2019t be found in this year\u2019s final spending plan.<\/p>\n

Bipartisan Senate<\/a>\u2013 and House<\/a>-sponsored legislation aiming to regulate and tax skill games has remained in committees in each chamber since its introduction.<\/p>\n

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Wecht wrote in the opinion that if the enforcement ends up affecting arcade games, \u201cthen so be it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot shy away from the language of a statute merely because its application may have undesirable consequences in some hypothetical future context,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Courts will consider legal challenges \u201cshould law enforcement officers begin conducting raids of children\u2019s amusement establishments and seizing Skee-Ball machines and stuffed animals,\u201d Wecht said.<\/p>\n

However, state Attorney General Dave Sunday\u2019s office wrote in a statement that while it will approach enforcement of the ruling on a case-by-case basis, its focus \u201cremains on games involving financial gain\u201d \u2014\u00a0so neighborhood arcades would still be safe.<\/p>\n

Antkowiak also said the impending legislative battle over skill game regulation, coupled with police stations likely prioritizing more serious crimes, will make enforcement harder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be very difficult to see a mass raid on a Chuck E. Cheese,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Independent reporting on Pennsylvania state government that impacts communities statewide \u2014 free to read and republish.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading Emily\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

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Pennsylvania Capital-Star<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Emily Scolnick, Pennsylvania Capital-StarJuly 7, 2026 Emily Scolnick is a 2026 Dow Jones News Fund intern at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-238386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238386","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=238386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}