• Pennsylvania’s 13 casinos are bracing for another statewide closure under an order issued by Governor Tom Wolf this past Thursday. The gambling venues along with theaters, movie theaters, concert venues, arcades, private clubs, bowling alleys, and other entertainment businesses around the Keystone State will all have to cease operations as of.
• While online poker is legal in Pennsylvania, there are still some offshore sites that operate within the state. You may have more options and a wider range of bonuses available to you, but it is still best for you to spend your money with an operator that has been licensed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. A Trustworthy Place to Play.
• As a state rep gets ensnared in the business, it’s worth saying again: The state should just make them legal and take a cut of the action.
• Poker is not defined as either a game of skill or chance in Kentucky (it’s not actually defined at all). — Massachusetts: Actual legality of playing home poker games is not referenced at all in Massachusetts General Law. — Pennsylvania: There are provisions in law about “unlawful gambling.” Again, it’s unclear whether poker falls.

Pennsylvania Legal online poker: Nevada Delaware New Jersey Pennsylvania Legal Online Sportsbooks: Rhode Island West Virginia New Jersey Pennsylvania USA online casinos The online casino USA market is definitely starting to grow. The domino effect is taking place, now that states are seeing the financial benefits of legal online casinos.

In a ruling handed down by Pennsylvania Judge Thomas A. James Jr. in Columbia County on Friday, it was ruled that Texas Hold’em is a game of skill and therefore not gambling under state law. The ruling sets an “excellent bar” for future poker litigation, according to Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas.

The basic question, according to Judge James’ ruling, is whether poker is dominated by chance or skill. He commented “Simply, if chance predominates, Texas Hold’em is gambling. If skill predominates, it is not gambling.” In Pennsylvania, video poker machines are not allowed because their outcomes are primarily due to chance, not skill. In the case of Texas Hold’em, however, Judge James explained that extensive literature exists that describes winning strategies to play the game. He even cited Mike Caro’s “Secrets of Winning Poker” by saying, “the money flows from the bad players to the strong players.”

In his ruling, Judge James explains that the “dominant factor test” has traditionally applied to games of skill and cites multiple mathematical studies that prove it, including one linking “poker and economics.” An included study even explained that players receive equal amounts of premier and lackluster starting hands. However, “Beginning poker players rely on big hands and lucky draws. Expert poker players use their skills to minimize their losses on their bad hands and maximize their profits on their big hands.” In the end, Judge James asserts, “It is apparent that skill predominates over chance in Texas Hold’em poker.”

The defendant in the case, Walter Watkins, ran a $1-$2 No Limit Hold’em game out of his garage. No rake was taken, according to the PPA. Instead, players were encouraged to tip the dealer at the end of every hand based on the pot’s size, just as they would in conventional casinos. Only Texas Hold’em was played. Also identified in the case is Diane Dent, a dealer. Both have since been cleared of charges as a result of the ruling. Pappas told Poker News Daily, “Clearly, the judge had an understanding of how poker is played. Coming to this decision, to him, was not a far leap. The decision sets an excellent bar for us in the future.”

Watkins told the Associated Press, “It’s unfortunate we had to go through all this. We were arrested, taken out of our home. Shackled and spent a night in prison. All for playing poker.” Watkins and Dent were faced with 20 charges each. Leading up to the arrest of the pair, who the Associated Press identifies as boyfriend and girlfriend, an undercover Pennsylvania State Trooper took part in the game. Dent served as the dealer when the trooper attended and the case ultimately centered on whether Texas Hold’em is “unlawful gambling” according to Pennsylvania state law. It appears as if, for the time being, that question has been answered. No word of an appeal was given as of press time.

Cited in the case are a bevy of poker-related books, studies, and websites, including HoldemSecrets.com, “Explaining Winning Poker: A Data Mining Approach,” and “Poker and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.” The UIGEA, which was passed in 2006, defers to existing state and federal laws when defining what is “unlawful internet gambling.” Pappas claimed that the PPA was looking into ways to incorporate Friday’s ruling in Pennsylvania into other legal battles throughout the country. The PPA operates an extensive Litigation Network that matches embattled poker players with local lawyers. It utilizes the power of numbers to be able to pool knowledge of case law as well as the implications of precedents like the one set on Friday.

Peter Campana represented the defendants, while Thomas Leipold served as counsel for the State of Pennsylvania.

They are at the convenience store. And, in the corner at the loved-by-locals breakfast spot. At the bowling alley. They are in 21-to-enter dives and bars with family-friendly menus. At each of these places, there are Pennsylvania Skill machines. The games can be played by 18-year-olds, whereas slot machines on casino gaming floors are strictly 21 years or older.

Pace-O-Matic (POM) designs Pennsylvania Skill games, which are distributed by Williamsport, PA,-based-Miele Manufacturing.

It offers several games including:

• A tic-tac-toe-style puzzle
• A potentially unlockable bonus session
• A “follow me” colored dot-matching second phase of gameplay.

If a player successfully plays the Pace-O-Matic game, he or she wins a total of 105% of the original amount spent to play.

Pennsylvania Skill games

Pennsylvania Skill’s homepage touts the legality.

The “legal updates” page on the site has monthly updates from Matt Haverstick of the Philadelphia-based law firm Kleinbard.

An October 2019 update says:

“We are taking additional measures to end harassment by the Pennsylvania State Police, Lottery and Liquor Control Board of Pennsylvania Skill Operators. If any law enforcement of regulatory agency takes action against you, or otherwise tries to tell you that a Pennsylvania Skill device is illegal, please let the Pennsylvania Skill Compliance Team know immediately.”

Skill games legislation draws doubters

In late October, the House Gaming Oversight Committee heard testimony on Rep. Dan Moul’s House bill, which seeks to legalize, regulate, and tax the games.

The PA Lottery and the PA Gaming Control Board (PGCB) expressed serious reservations about Moul’s current version of the bill. Gaming Committee Chairman Jim Marshall, a Republican from Beaver County, said the hearing would hopefully start a dialogue.

PGCB Executive Director Kevin O’Toole testified overseeing skills games is not among the duties of the gaming board as the law is now written. He also said the proposed legislation does not provide a stream of new revenue to fund investigations and licensing in a new area of responsibility. O’Toole also noted the difficulty in assessing the fairness of a skill-based game.

The PA State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement’s leader, Major Scott Miller,said skills games are seen as illegal gambling within his organization.

He called the current unregulated play “ripe for corruption” because the machines generate millions with no public accounting and no public benefit for the machines in bars. Each machine can generate $500 per week. Miller said he is also concerned about under the table side-deals and loansharking.

Going back in time with skill machines

A 2014 Beaver County case ruled Pennsylvania Skill games legal in 2014. In November 2013, agents of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement seized a Pace-O-Matic video game device from an Italian-American club in Beaver County. However, the device was returned after a court ruling deemed “the evidence fails to demonstrate that the machine is a gambling device.”

A 2015 House Gaming Oversight Committee Public Hearing addressing the seizure of illegal gambling devices cited two forfeiture cases, including the Beaver County case. At the hearing, Rep. Kill Kortz (D- Allegheny) noted six years ago that the PSP commissioner testified there were 40 to 60,000 machines. This represents a vast difference from the 15,000 machines Butler estimated in his testimony. However, Butler did say it was “very difficult” to come up with the estimate and it “could certainly be more.”

At a June 2019 House Gaming Oversight hearing, lawmakers heard various sides of the debate if skill games threaten the Pennsylvania Lottery and Pennsylvania casinos.

POM Vice President of Government Affairs/Public Relations and Counsel Tom Marino said the company is eager to work on sensible legislation and touted the investments POM made in the community and producing the machines in PA. According to Penn Live, Miele Manufacturing pays taxes on the machines it sells and tries to self-regulate through contracts with its host establishments that require, for example, removal of any illegal machines before the POM games can be placed.

The state taxes casino-based slots at a rate of 54%.

Are Poker Machines Legal In Pennsylvania Lottery

Marino said to Penn Live:

“Our machines are not fixed to win for the House, like the casinos… So a 54% tax would practically wipe out the industry.”

PA Skill games and the PA Lottery

In June 2019, Sen. Tommy Tomlinson (R-Bucks County) introducedSenate Bill 710 to address the “illegal machines” and protect funding for senior programs. Tomlinson, Pennsylvania Lottery officials, Pennsylvania State Police, and senior groups partnered to announce the legislation to combat “illegal Pennsylvania Skill games.”

They said it cost the Pennsylvania Lottery an estimated $138 million in taxes over the past year and put funding for senior programs at risk. The PA Lottery estimates that for every games-of-skill machine placed in a lottery retailer, the PA Lottery loses approximately $2,284 per machine per month.

Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko said:

“These illegal machines are creating a huge risk for the older Pennsylvanians who rely upon the programs the Lottery funds. The Games of Skill machines are appearing across the state and we are deeply concerned the harm will only increase. Senator Tomlinson’s legislation will crackdown on the machines and preserve hundreds of millions of dollars that help seniors afford prescriptions, transportation, meals and more.”

The 2017-18 fiscal year was a record-breaker for the Pennsylvania Lottery. They sold more than $4.2 billion in games and paid more than $2.7 billion in prizes to winners generating more than $1 billion to benefit older Pennsylvanians. Two new products, keno and iLottery, contributed to the success.

The most recent ruling on games of skill

On Nov. 20, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court confirmed in a ruling that video game machines manufactured and distributed by the POM under the name “Pennsylvania Skill” are considered slot machines under Pennsylvania law. However, Judge Patricia McCullough did not state that POM was in violation of the Gaming Act.

Haverstick replied to PlayPennsylvania‘s request for comment. He said POM expects to have a trial where they demonstrate they are predominately skill.

Are Poker Machines Legal In Pennsylvania State Parks

POM knows the market they can operate within. Haverstick commented:

Are Poker Machines Legal In Pennsylvania

“There are a lot of competitors and there is a gray market and bad actors. POM isn’t one of them. They take care of all the legal fees for every one of their business partners down to the location level. If you are a POM customer, we are out there fighting for you. We have a legal machine and at least one court has upheld we are a legal machine. We expect soon we’re going get a bigger broader ruling that we are a legal machine.”