What exactly are “games of skill,” and should they be allowed? It’s a legal mess that Pennsylvania is now having to solve, looking to make a clear determination on what games involve an element of skill, and which are pure luck.

Many opposed to these machines look at them as a way to skirt the law by offering cash rewards for games where “chance” is not the primary factor in why someone wins. As Jess Fiel, the senior director of government relations for the American Gaming Association, explained recently, “We don’t really want to reward this behavior. We don’t want to say, ‘Just because you’ve been doing it without proper protections, doesn’t mean it should continue.’”

Pennsylvania first had to confront the question of games of skill in in July 2019, when skill game machine manufacturer Pace-O-Matic filed suit against a competitor. 3C Amusements, was accused of “operating machines that have been ruled illegal gambling devices and is advertising its business as a casino.” The argument was made that these machines were “chance-based,” which would make them illegal under Pennsylvania law.

Ironically enough, Pace-O-Matic had been sued years earlier when a competitor made the same claim against them.