PA Commonwealth Court Rules that Pennsylvania Skill Devices are Not Regulated by Gaming Code
Nov 21, 2019, 19:36 ET
HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pace-O-Matic of Pennsylvania (POM of PA), the entity that markets Pennsylvania Skill games, won a decisive court ruling in Commonwealth Court on Wednesday that it brought against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Revenue and the City of Philadelphia.
The Court's decision can be viewed by clicking here.
Matt Haverstick, Esq., who represented POM of PA in the lawsuit said, "The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court's ruling left no doubt Pace-O-Matic's Pennsylvania Skill games are not regulated by the Gaming Act as argued by the state and asserted by other parties in subsequent legal filings. This decision means POM of PA's Pennsylvania Skill games are not regulated by the Gaming Act and terms defined in code, such as slot machines, do not apply to our devices. Additionally, the Commonwealth Court states they did not decide our claim regarding the legal status of our game. This means that our current ruling from Beaver County stating Pace-O-Matic's Pennsylvania Skill devices are games of predominant skill is still the law in Pennsylvania."
Pace-O-Matic Director of Communications Mike Barley said, "Pace-O-Matic of Pennsylvania is committed to continuing to work with the legislature to regulate, tax and provide strict enforcement of the legal skill game industry. We believe the revenue we are providing to small businesses and fraternal clubs, the jobs that are being created and the tens of millions of dollars we have paid in taxes to the state prove that we are laying a solid foundation for the legal skill game industry that benefits Pennsylvania."
Read Footnote 19 from Page 31 from the Court's decision below or by clicking here.
Pace-O-Matic's Pennsylvania Skill products are manufactured by Miele Manufacturing in Williamsport, which has created over 100 manufacturing and manufacturing-related positions in our Commonwealth. Additionally, Pennsylvania Skill games are helping to support and grow businesses that were struggling and are now thriving and creating jobs. The revenue generated by our games has become a lifeline to fraternal clubs and organizations across the Commonwealth, including American Legions, VFWs and local fire companies. Pennsylvania Skill has donated over $600,000 over the past year to local charities, including food banks, children's hospitals and senior centers.
As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure compliance, Pace-O-Matic employs a team of former state troopers to enforce the terms of our contracts and our codes of conduct, which limit the number of machines and where they are placed in a location and ensure that no one underage is playing our devices.
In 2014, the Beaver County Court of Common Pleas ruled Pace-O-Matic's Pennsylvania Skill games are legal as games of predominant skill. That court decision can be found by clicking here.
SOURCE Pace-O-Matic
