Pennsylvania Police Say Switched-Off Skill Games Can Still Be Seized From 14 October

The State Police's third notice closes the route Pace-O-Matic says it will take, disabling terminals rather than removing them, and puts bars' liquor licences on the line. None of the six skill game bills has left committee.

• The Pennsylvania State Police said on 5 October that a skill game "does not cease being a slot machine" if it is turned off, unplugged or temporarily disabled, "including the removal of any hardware or software that may simply be replaced"
• Pace-O-Matic, the leading supplier, says its Pennsylvania Skill terminals will be disabled by midnight on 13 October if no legislative or court remedy arrives, and that compliance "does not require the physical removal of the machines"
• From 14 October machines outside licensed casinos and truck stops face seizure with their proceeds, hosts face possible charges, and bars a citation that can bring a fine or suspension of their liquor licence
• Distributors, vendors and manufacturers that refuse to collect their machines are reminded of "the potential for criminal charges", and hosts are told to report a refusal to the police
• The six skill game bills, from a $500-a-month licence fee to a six-month delay, are all still in committee, with the deadline that lawmakers had six session days to meet a week away

The Police Have Answered the Industry's Compliance Plan Before the Deadline

The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) issued its third reminder on Monday 5 October, after the guidance of 9 September that first warned hosts of seizures and a release on 17 September. The substance has not changed: every skill game outside a casino or qualifying truck stop licensed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) is unlawful, and "all establishments possessing, operating and/or maintaining such machines are subject to criminal prosecution and immediate seizure of the machines as of October 14, 2026."

What has changed is the detail. In September the PSP said a machine that is "turned off, unplugged, or temporarily disabled" is still a slot machine. Monday's version adds: "(including the removal of any hardware or software that may simply be replaced)". Hosts whose supplier will not collect after the deadline should "proactively inform PSP of the owner's refusal".

That reads as a reply to the industry's own plan. Pace-O-Matic, maker of the Pennsylvania Skill terminals, said last week that its games "will be disabled by the October 13 midnight deadline, assuming no legislative or court remedy is reached before then", CBS News Pittsburgh reported. A spokesperson went further in a CBS 21 News report published on Monday: "Our understanding is that compliance requires the games to be rendered inoperable; it does not require the physical removal of the machines."

Liquor Licences and Distributors Are Now in the Frame

A new PSP resources page lists four enforcement actions: seizing and forfeiting the machines and equipment, seizing proceeds, criminal charges "when deemed appropriate", and an "administrative citation filed against a liquor license, which may result in a fine and/or suspension of the license". Licensed bars and clubs are directed to the PSP's Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement.

Under section 5513 of the Crimes Code, the release says, it is a criminal offence to "maintain, assemble, set up, make, sell or lease slot machines" without PGCB authorisation, and distributors, vendors and manufacturers that refuse to remove their machines are "reminded of the potential for criminal charges should they continue to maintain their slot machines at unlicensed locations." The release frames prosecution as possible rather than automatic.

Attorney General Dave Sunday warned on 29 September: "We do not want to see searches and seizures at storefronts or bar, social club and restaurant establishments," he said, according to CBS News Pittsburgh.

The Ruling, the Machines and the Bills

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled on 15 June, in In re Three Pennsylvania Skill Amusement Devices and POM of Pennsylvania, LLC v. Department of Revenue, that skill games are slot machines "several times over", in Justice David Wecht's words for the majority, and stayed its order for 120 days so the General Assembly could legislate for an estimated 70,000 machines in Pennsylvania.

Senate Bill 1079, from Senators Gene Yaw and Anthony Williams, which would charge $500 a month per terminal and allow up to 50,000, has been in committee since November 2025, and its House companion, HB 2213, since February. On 24 September four more went to the House Gaming Oversight Committee: Representative Russ Diamond's HB 2801 and HB 2802, which would tax skill games at 20%, allow five per venue and cut casino slot and online casino tax to 49.9%, and two delays to 13 April 2027, Representative Manny Guzman's HB 2793 and Representative Brad Roae's HB 2795. None of the six has had a vote, the legislature's records show.

The obstacle is where the money goes. Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman said last month that Senate Republicans would send it to the General Fund, as Governor Josh Shapiro proposed, but that Democrats wanted it for public transit, CBS 21 News reported; Yogonet notes that funding for Philadelphia's SEPTA has been part of the dispute.

The Fight Is Now Over What "Off" Means

The industry and the police disagree on whether a disabled terminal can stay on the floor, and the PSP's new wording is drafted to close the gap a software lock or a removed board would leave. For Pace-O-Matic, leaving terminals in place is the cheapest way to restart if lawmakers act; removing tens of thousands of cabinets and reinstalling them later is costly. For a host it is different: a bar that accepts its supplier's word that a dark machine is lawful is the party the police say they can seize from, and it now has written instructions to report a supplier that will not collect.

The Liquor Licence Is the Lever That Will Move Bars

Prosecuting a social club or tavern over a machine it does not own would be slow and uncertain, and the attorney general has said he would rather not see raids. An administrative citation runs through the liquor enforcement system the PSP already operates rather than a criminal court, and a suspension costs a bar its core business rather than a revenue share from a terminal. That makes it the threat most likely to empty the bars before any seizure is needed. It also moves the risk of waiting for Harrisburg from the machine owners to the venues, which, unlike the owners, hold a licence they can lose.

A Rescue Now Needs Both Chambers in a Week

Even the simplest fix, an extension, has to clear committee, pass both chambers and be signed by the governor before 13 October. With every bill in committee and no agreement on the revenue, the default the court set in June will apply. Inaction has become the decision, and it is the outcome Pennsylvania's casinos, which pay among the highest slot taxes in the United States, have argued for. A later deal could still legalise the machines, but it would return them to hosts who have learned that the risk of keeping them sits with the venue.

The Supreme Court decided what a skill game is in June. The State Police have now decided what turning one off means, and unless lawmakers move this week, that is the definition 70,000 machines will be measured against.