A Louisville, Kentucky TV news report last week examined the so-called “skill games” placed in a local tavern by Georgia company Pace-O-Matic, with local player Linda Shore demonstrating the dubious nature of what the manufacturer calls skill in the unregistered, unlicensed machines.
Playing the game Burning Barrel, which the report by WDRB TV said is in thousands of bars, restaurants, truck stops and convenience stores in the state, Shor showed how a flurry of shapes across the screen, which the player is to push to generate a win, has the correct square to at least return the bet vibrating to reveal the correct answer. “This one’s kind of wiggling, so you know you need to push that one,” she told the reporter. “Skill for idiots.”
Other than the reveal that resulted in an occasional win, the machine plays just like a slot machine. It is one of the games released by Pace-O-Matic whose placement is being battled by the American Gaming Association and Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers as unlicensed, illegal slot machines that return no taxes or fees to their jurisdictions, and provide no player protections as casino slots provide.
The report quoted the bar owner as saying he depends on the revenue, and some who point to historical horse racing machines in Kentucky as another version of the same type of gray-area machines.
Kentucky lawmakers, and operators in the horse-racing industry, reject that comparison, noting that HHR machines are regulated and licensed by the state, and are on a more firm legal footing than the skill games.
“I will oppose any effort to legalize this unique business model that is illegal,” Sen. Damon Thayer, the majority floor leader, said during a November hearing about the issue, according to the WDRB report. “If you’re operating a handful of these machines in the back room of your convenience store, you’re operating an illegal casino. We do not need to be in the business of rewarding bad behavior.”
