In an interview last week, Yaw said he received a response from the attorney general that seemed to indicate a hesitation to delve into the skill games issue, given the ongoing litigation over the legality of the games. Similar legislation was introduced in the last legislative session but was not voted on, in part because proposals to tweak or update Pennsylvania’s gambling law have triggered a frenzy of lobbying from competing interests, making it difficult to reach a consensus.

Yaw, whose district houses a manufacturer of skill games, has introduced a bill that would tax and regulate the games. Pace-O-Matic is suing the Gaming Control Board and others for targeting its industry.

Though its officials say they are open to being licensed and taxed, the company believes it should not be subject to the same 54% tax on revenues that is paid by casino slots. Pace-O-Matic, the company that makes the software for the majority of skill games in Pennsylvania, argues their products require a level of human skill, rather than pure chance, to achieve a payout. The games are not specifically authorized by the state’s gambling law, and there have been multiple lawsuits - including one pending in Commonwealth Court - over their legality. State Police’s Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, he said, has increased its seizure of skill games from establishments across the state.Īs it stands, skill games operate in a legal gray area. In his letter to the state attorney general’s office, Yaw wrote that the gaming board, as well as Pennsylvania State Police, have taken an increasingly aggressive stance against skill games in the past five years. In his letter to the state ethics board, Solomon wrote that it “defies credibility” that the logs have remained stagnant for so many years. For the initial story, the Gaming Control Board’s lawyers told Spotlight PA that the meeting with Parx did not meet the definition of a meeting that required public disclosure and thus was not required to be listed on either log.

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