{"id":108852,"date":"2019-07-10T10:44:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T17:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=108852"},"modified":"2019-07-11T13:32:18","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T20:32:18","slug":"pennsylvania-skill-games-supplier-sues-rival-over-illegal-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pennsylvania-skill-games-supplier-sues-rival-over-illegal-gambling\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania Skill Games Supplier Sues Rival, Alleges \u2018Illegal Gambling\u2019 Devices Offered to Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pace-O-Matic, the maker of the \u201cPennsylvania Skill\u201d brand of skill-games machines, is suing a rival in the lucrative but controversial Pennsylvania skill games market for allegedly offering illegal gambling.<\/p>\n

\"Pennsylvania
Pace-O-Matic\u2019s games may look like slots but they include skill elements, such as features that require players to memorize intricate patterns to maximize their winnings. (Image: The Virginian-Pilot)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pace-O-Matic alleges that the games on offer at 3C Amusements, made by a different manufacturer, cross the fine line between skill game and gambling device, which renders them illegal under state law.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit comes as several state lawmakers have argued that all machines, regardless of their provenance, cross that fine line and last month introduced legislation<\/a> to ban them.<\/p>\n

PA Courts Approved Skill Gaming<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Currently, the State Court disagrees with this position. In 2014, it found that several Pace-O-Matic terminals seized by police could not be deemed illegal gambling devices because they were predominantly skill-based rather than chance-based.<\/p>\n

\n

The machines may look and sound like slots, but they include elements that require players to recognize intricate patterns to maximize their scores, for example, or bonus games with arcade-style shooting sequences that require skilled reflexes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Under Pennsylvania law, for a machine to be classed as a gambling device, three elements must be present: (1) a \u201cconsideration,\u201d i.e., a stake; (2) a \u201cresult that is determined by chance rather than skill; and (3) \u201creward,\u201d i.e. a payout.<\/p>\n

The court was convinced that Pace-O-Matic had removed enough of the second element to render its machines legal.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t fly everywhere. Last month, Pace-O-Matic\u2019s games, including some of those approved by the Pennsylvania court ruling, were banned in Virginia. Authorities in Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho have also recently taken action<\/a> against skill-games machines.<\/p>\n

Closing the \u2018Loophole\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson (R-Bensalem) wants Pennsylvania to follow suit. He believes the machines exist only because of a \u201clegal loophole\u201d and has introduced a bill that would close it.<\/p>\n

I drafted this legislation after learning the impact these machines have on the Pennsylvania Lottery,\u201d <\/span><\/strong>Tomlinson told local NBC affiliate WJAC-TV last month.<\/span> \u201cI am concerned about the negative effect these unregulated, unlicensed, untaxed gambling machines have on unsuspecting players, youth and lottery funds, which support essential services for our senior citizens.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unsurprisingly, lottery officials have also railed against the machines, claiming they are losing $95 million in annual revenue because over 5,000 skill-games machines exist inside retail outlets that sell lottery tickets.<\/p>\n

Pace-O-Matic\u2019s lawsuit was announced by press release and the finer points of its case are not yet publicly accessible, but the company claims in its release that 3C is operating games that have been \u201cruled illegal.\u201d This likely means it believes they do not comply with the 2014 state court judgment. The company also claims 3C is advertising itself as a \u201ccasino.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pace-O-Matic, the maker of the \u201cPennsylvania Skill\u201d brand of skill-games machines, is suing a rival in the lucrative but controversial Pennsylvania skill games market for allegedly offering illegal gambling. Pace-O-Matic alleges that the games on offer at 3C Amusements, made by a different manufacturer, cross the fine line between skill game and gambling device, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":108858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPennsylvania Skill Games Supplier Sues Rival Over Illegal Gambling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Skill games manufacturer Pace-O-Matic sues Pennsylvania operator 3C, claiming its machines amount to illegal gambling under state law.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pennsylvania Skill Games Supplier Sues Rival Over Illegal Gambling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Skill games manufacturer Pace-O-Matic sues Pennsylvania operator 3C, claiming its machines amount to illegal gambling under state law.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pennsylvania-skill-games-supplier-sues-rival-over-illegal-gambling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-10T17:44:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-11T20:32:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/skill.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"722\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pennsylvania-skill-games-supplier-sues-rival-over-illegal-gambling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pennsylvania-skill-games-supplier-sues-rival-over-illegal-gambling\/\",\"name\":\"Pennsylvania Skill Games Supplier Sues Rival Over Illegal Gambling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pennsylvania-skill-games-supplier-sues-rival-over-illegal-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pennsylvania-skill-games-supplier-sues-rival-over-illegal-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/skill.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-10T17:44:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-11T20:32:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Skill games manufacturer Pace-O-Matic sues Pennsylvania operator 3C, claiming its machines amount to illegal gambling under state law.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pennsylvania-skill-games-supplier-sues-rival-over-illegal-gambling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pennsylvania-skill-games-supplier-sues-rival-over-illegal-gambling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pennsylvania-skill-games-supplier-sues-rival-over-illegal-gambling\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/skill.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/skill.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":722,\"caption\":\"Pace-O-Matic\u2019s games may look like slots but they include skill elements, such as features that require players to memorize intricate patterns to maximize their winnings. 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