Pennsylvania casinos are cutting slot inventory over poor performance, with one placing blame on the unregulated skill game machines found in convenience stores and gas stations.
Rivers Pittsburg received permission from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) to remove 302 slots from its casino floor. While it acknowledged the need for newer machines, the casino put most of the blame on the widespread availability of skill games, which it says are just unregulated slots.
The casino industry continues to attack skill games for loss of revenue, yet these losses don’t seem to appear in any of their reporting. While they spin misleading information, we will stick to the facts. The fact is, that skill games are a legal source of income that Pennsylvania’s small businesses rely on every day to make ends meet, Chief Public Affairs Officer, Michael Barley, Pace-O-Matic, manufacturer of skill games.
Pennsylvania’s retail casinos aren’t the only ones experiencing a slowdown. Even Nevada and New Jersey—states almost synonymous with gambling—have been feeling it. Definitively attributing the pinch to any particular cause is harder.
While the state legislature remains deadlocked, some local lawmakers have taken independent action. Days after the Supreme Court allowed the skill games to operate, the Philadelphia City Council banned skill games inside gas stations and convenience stores. As expected, skill game manufacturers and operators responded with a lawsuit.
