{"id":306018,"date":"2026-10-13T21:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T21:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/306018\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T21:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T21:46:08","slug":"pennsylvania-skill-game-deadline-arrives-as-machines-are-removed-across-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/306018\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania skill game deadline arrives as machines are removed across state"},"content":{"rendered":"

Skill game machines are disappearing from businesses and private clubs across Pennsylvania after lawmakers failed to pass legislation regulating them before the state’s deadline.<\/p>\n

At American Legion Post 951 in Upper Chichester, workers removed four machines, marking the end of a revenue source that helped support local charities and gave veterans another reason to gather at the post.<\/p>\n

“It’s just fun and exciting,” Ron Starr, a Marine Corps veteran and member of the post, said. “You know, when you hit a jackpot, it’s exciting. When you blow $200, it is not. But when you win $500, it is.”<\/p>\n

In June, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that\u00a0skill game machines are slot machines<\/a>. Under the ruling, only casinos and licensed truck stops can operate them.\u00a0The court declined to extend the deadline<\/a>\u00a0for removing the machines from other establishments.<\/p>\n

Beginning Oct. 14,\u00a0Pennsylvania State Police can seize machines<\/a>\u00a0that remain in prohibited locations and file criminal charges against those who continue to operate them.<\/p>\n

“Very sad day for me, but hopefully the state legislators will change and allow them to come back into private clubs,” Starr said.<\/p>\n

Starr believes veterans’ organizations and nonprofits should be exempt from the restrictions.<\/p>\n

Neil Cuerden, commander of American Legion Post 951, said the machines generated about $10,000 a month for the club, most of which went back into the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We put a lot of that money out into local fire departments, the local police departments, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, a number of scholarships,” Cuerden said.<\/p>\n

Without that revenue, the post will have to find other ways to support those causes.<\/p>\n

Cuerden expects the loss to also affect the club’s finances. He said drink prices at the bar will increase and worries there could be a dip in membership. Right now the club has 350 members.<\/p>\n

“It’s going to give them less of a reason to come in,” Cuerden said.<\/p>\n

The post is working to attract younger veterans and maintain its membership. Members can still gather for other activities like pinochle, pool and darts.<\/p>\n

“So, there’s things you could do,” Starr said. “It’ll be an adjustment period.”<\/p>\n

Starr hopes the post can continue making a difference in the community, even without the revenue from skill games.<\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Skill game machines are disappearing from businesses and private clubs across Pennsylvania after lawmakers failed to pass legislation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[212,28,30,29],"class_list":["post-306018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-delaware-county","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306018","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=306018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}