Bars, restaurants and social clubs in the Doylestown area face criminal charges, machine seizures and liquor license trouble if skill game machines remain after Wednesday, Oct. 14.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday, Oct. 9, denied last-minute requests from lawmakers and business groups to extend an Oct. 13 deadline for the legislature to regulate the machines, as first reported by the Bucks County Courier Times. Legislators failed to act, and the ban is now in effect.
Pennsylvania State Police have warned that simply unplugging or powering off a machine does not count as compliance. The machines must be physically removed from the premises.
The PSP's skill games resource page states that a slot machine does not stop being a slot machine just because it has been turned off, unplugged or temporarily disabled.
The consequences are steep. According to state police, enforcement actions may include seizing machines and any cash inside them, filing criminal charges and citing a business's liquor license, which could mean fines or suspension.
Businesses that hold a liquor license should contact their local Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement office for help removing machines. Those without a license should call their local state police station. Distributors and vendors who refuse to pull machines from businesses can also face charges, Central Bucks Now reported.
What's at stake in Bucks County
At least 70,000 skill game machines operate across Pennsylvania, found in taverns, gas stations, pizza shops and social clubs. The Supreme Court ruled on June 15 that the machines are slot machines under state law and can only operate legally inside the state's 17 licensed casinos.
The court gave lawmakers until Oct. 13 to pass a regulatory framework. They didn't.
In Bucks County, the financial hit is concrete for some organizations. American Legion Post 834 in Fallsington estimates the ban will strip about $40,000 in annual revenue from the post, which uses that money for veterans' breakfasts, an annual Easter egg hunt, clothing drives and donations to local parades.
"If they take those machines out, we will be insolvent within two years," treasurer Tony Spenillo told the Bucks County Courier Times in September.
No Doylestown or Buckingham business has been publicly identified as operating skill game machines, but the ban applies to any establishment statewide.
A bipartisan group of legislators, including Republican Sen. Gene Yaw and Democratic Sen. Anthony Williams, asked the court for a four-month extension to Feb. 10, 2027. A separate coalition of VFW posts, American Legion chapters and fraternal clubs filed its own emergency petition. The court denied both on Friday, Oct. 9, without explanation.
Rep. Russ Diamond, a Lebanon County Republican, said on Oct. 12 that "there are lots of people to blame and most of them work in the Capitol," as reported by Central Bucks Now.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Susan Affronti, in an Oct. 12 court filing opposing the extension, wrote that the legislature had "known since June 2024 that the devices in question might be recognized as illegal by this court."
No new legislative session date or bill has been announced to address the machines after the deadline. Any bar or club along State Street, Route 611 or anywhere else in the area with a skill game still on the floor has one option: get it out before Wednesday, Oct. 14.
