makes them illegal this fall<\/a>.<\/p>\nFor Daniel Lee, president of the Macungie Veterans Association, losing the machines would be a financial blow to a club already struggling after an April 2025 fire at their Lehigh Street clubhouse forced it to close for nearly a year. The clubhouse is a meeting place for local veterans.<\/p>\n
On a good month, Lee said, the machines bring in around $1,000 for the club. That money is being used for post-fire renovations, and also to pay the electric bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese skill machines are a big advantage for us for revenue, to try to get us back on our feet,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
The state Supreme Court in June ruled that skill games are essentially slot machines and should be subject to gambling laws. That means the devices, which have operated in a legal gray area since 2014, are now prohibited outside casinos and can be confiscated by police.<\/p>\n
The court put a 120-day stay on enforcement of their ruling, giving lawmakers until Oct. 13 to pass legislation regulating the machines.<\/p>\n
Supporters want lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 1079, sponsored by Sens. Gene Yaw and Anthony Williams, and companion legislation, House Bill 2213, sponsored by Reps. Danilo Burgos and Jonathan Fritz. The proposed legislation will regulate skill games and place a monthly $500 per terminal fee on the games.<\/p>\n
The measure will generate $300 million in state tax dollars in the first year of regulation, according to the Pennsylvania Taverns and Players Association, which organized Thursday\u2019s rally.<\/p>\n
David Lausterer, president of Lansdale Amusement Co., the firm that leases the games, said skill games bring in profits that other bar games like pinball machines and pool tables used to provide, until home video games made them less popular with patrons.<\/p>\n
\u201cTimes change. Those things just don\u2019t produce the revenue that they did back in the day. We\u2019re very fortunate that skill games came out. They\u2019ve resurrected an awful lot of clubs and small businesses and have really done a lot of good in our community,\u201d Lausterer said.<\/p>\n
Skill games work like a slot machine in a casino, but players can win all of their money back \u2014 up to 105% of what they put in \u2014 by solving a complicated puzzle. Proponents say that\u2019s what makes them different from slot machines and other gambling devices.<\/p>\n
Businesses that host skill game machines get 40% of the profit, according to Pace-O-Matic, a firm that writes software for the machines.<\/p>\n
Bonnie Jeinnings, treasurer of the Sellersville American Legion Post in Bucks County, said the machines in her clubhouse provided money sorely needed after two floods damaged the building and forced them to cancel dances.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for the skill machines we\u2019d probably be closed years ago,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Rochelle Miller, treasurer of the Mertztown Rod and and Gun Club in Longswamp Township, said skill machines brought in $38,000 in 2025, and $44,000 for the club so far this year. The money not only allowed members to renovate the 90-year-old clubhouse and buy a generator, but helps pay for community activities like the annual kids\u2019 fish rodeo. It cost the club $38,000 to stock its pond, Miller said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we didn\u2019t have that extra revenue we would not be where we are today. We\u2019d be getting by, but we would not have the ability to support our kids and teach them all about hunting and safety and all of that,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
To drive home the point that skills games support the community, Lansdale Amusement presented the Macungie Veterans Association with a $5,000 donation, and gave the Allentown nonprofit Give a Blessing, Get a Blessing, a check for $2,500 at the rally.<\/p>\n
There are about 70,000 skills games machines in Pennsylvania, not just in private clubs but in gas stations, bars and restaurants. State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Lehigh, a supporter of the skill games industry, said the machines are helping small businesses weather stormy economic times.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when affordability is becoming such a talking point, let me be clear: If a restaurant or small bar doesn\u2019t have the revenue from these games, what do you think is going to happen to the price of cheeseburgers and beer? It\u2019s going to be passed on to the consumer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
To operate a slot machine, owners must hold a valid slot machine license issued by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. There is no equivalent license for skill games. Critics, led by the state\u2019s licensed casino industry, say the devices promote unregulated gambling that attracts crime and underage gamblers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was completely pushed by the casinos. That\u2019s what this is about,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cIt\u2019s critical that the General Assembly comes up with something before the deadline.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of several area social clubs rallied in Macungie on Thursday to save the skill game machines they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,60,182,139,432],"class_list":["post-261122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-business","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261122","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=261122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}