Pennsylvania state lawmakers last week held the first of what is expected to be a series of hearings examining unregulated, illegal gaming machines that have appeared in convenience stores, gas stations and other non-casino locations around the state.
There are estimated to be more than 20,000 of these machines in operation at locations as diverse as pizza shops and laundromats across the state. Most of them are branded Pennsylvania Skill, and are supplied by Georgia-based Pace-O-Matic, which claims the games are not gambling because skill is involved in the outcome.
The state Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee conducted the first hearing on the subject in the northeastern Pennsylvania district of Senator John T. Yudichak, a former Democrat who, as an independent, caucuses with the Republican Party. Yudichak presided over the hour-long hearing by noting that his district includes a convenience store in Hazelton where one of the unregulated machines appears to have been connected to a murder.
Yudichak has said the lack of security in convenience store locations, in addition to the facts that the machines are not taxed and employ no player safeguards as with regulated machines, warrants further examination of the phenomenon.
One of those testifying at the hearing was Peter Shelly, who as the head of the citizen group Pennsylvanians Against Illegal Gambling (PAIG) has been battling the spread of the unregulated machines for years.
According to the Play Pennsylvania news site, Shelly testified that law enforcement agencies must “address this crisis and remove these illegal machines…. We are encouraged with the enforcement actions taken by the district attorneys’ offices in Berks and Delaware counties. The machines are a menace to communities across our state.”
Committee minority chair Senator Amanda Cappelletti’s district includes Montgomery County and a portion of Delaware County where the D.A. Jack Stollsteimer estimates they are over 20,000 illegal gambling machines.
Cappelletti, an East Norriton resident, commented that she sees the illegal gambling machines where she purchases gas. She told PlayPennsylvania during an interview that her gravest concern is that the unregulated machines can exacerbate compulsive gambling with no safeguards in place.
“I worry about individuals struggling. I worry about individuals who can’t afford $5 thinking ‘if only I hit once’ who play more often now that machines are widespread outside casinos.”
No one from Pace-O-Matic or other advocates of the Pennsylvania Skill games testified at the first hearing. Pace-O-Matic has been involved in efforts to have the company’s games officially legalized and regulated.
