Though a Virginia bill aiming to resolve the legal issue of skill games is stalled, the company that was a driving force behind it still believes it can be passed.
Michael Barley, chief public affairs officer for skill games creator Pace-O-Matic, spoke to PlayVirginia about the status of Senate Bill 212. His company, backed by a coalition of business owners, helped write the bill, seeking to resolve the last few years of legal limbo for the machines.
Virginia and Pennsylvania both debating skill games
While Virginia online casinos remain illegal, skill games represent a casino alternative that have grown in popularity.
In Pennsylvania, a state in which Pace-O-Matic is the leading skill games distributor, a new survey “concluded that the majority of voters are in favor of Pennsylvania skill games regulation that is ‘reasonable,'” even as fans of the games await a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on whether they should be legal.
The court is wrestling with the question, “Does an electronic slot machine cease to be an illegal ‘gambling device,’ governed predominantly by chance, if the machine’s manufacturers embed into its programming a so-called ‘skill’ element that is almost entirely hidden from view and is almost impossible to complete?”
This is unfolding as Virginia grapples with its own questions around skill games. While the General Assembly passed SB 212 in March, Gov. Glenn Youngkin amended it, creating a number of provisions legislators considered untenable. These included prohibiting skill games within 35 miles of a casino or a racetrack and distancing them further from schools, daycares, and places of worship.
While Youngkin and the General Assembly didn’t agree on this version of the bill, both sides indicated that a solution could be worked out. Barley is similarly hopeful. He said,
“Getting pieces of legislation like this [passed is] sometimes … more difficult than you hope when you start out. But I think we’re getting close to a final product, which will be good for small businesses, because it is difficult [for them], especially right now, as they’re dealing with the higher price of goods, difficulty hiring … It’s just one of these things that’s helped them, and it’s become part of their revenue stream. … I think we’re getting much closer to a compromise bill that will hopefully satisfy all parties. I think the legislature is motivated to do something.”
‘Pre-reveal’ machines among points of contention
Per an article in the Virginia Mercury, “A new type of machine is showing up in Virginia convenience stores based on the legal theory that some skill game variations involve no skill at all.”
According to the article, these “pre-reveal” machines “give players the option of looking ahead to see whether upcoming spins will produce a winning combo of symbols or not. Because players can study the machine to see what’s coming next and choose not to play, [former Virginia delegate Steve] Heretick argues, there’s no element of chance that would make the games a form of gambling.”
Heretick goes on to contend that “the machines are a form of visual entertainment that involve even less skill than a traditional arcade game like pinball. Therefore … they’re not subject to the skill game ban and should be considered legal unless a court rules otherwise.”
While that does provide a potential loophole, Barley believes it’s all the more reason for Virginia to step in and regulate skill games through legislation.
“I think that’s why regulation is important, so that a game that is [called] a skill game is actually a skill game, and it’s tested and approved by the state, so the public knows … and the store owner knows that what they’re putting out is actually what it says it is,” he said.
“That’s similar in other forms of gaming … the way most gaming is, it’s an entertainment product. So I think for the public, knowing what they’re playing [is important], and … there is an advantage of having the ability, in a true game of skill, to win every time. But I think the biggest advantage to getting something [regulatory] done is just knowing that the game that is being advertised that’s out there is actually what it says.”
Lawmakers likely to tackle skill games again in October
The General Assembly met in a special session last Thursday, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, though it was to deal with a bill concerning education benefits for military families that’s been of prime importance this summer.
Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, an instrumental pro-gambling voice in the Assembly, noted, “It’s not going to do any good for us to return until the House is ready” to deal with the skill games issue, indicating that it’s more likely to be taken up in October even though the special session might continue after the veterans’ bill is resolved.
