“Skilled” at Breaking the Law: “This latest attempt to sidestep any regulations or oversight shows [that ‘skill’ game developers] have no interest in acting responsibly or in good faith.”

This week, Delegate Cia Price (D-Newport News) and I published the joint op-ed below in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on the status of “skill” game machines in the Commonwealth.

Over the last few years, you may have noticed these machines in restaurants, gas stations, and convenience stores throughout our community. While a ban on skill game machines passed by the legislature in 2020 was briefly overturned by Governor Northam amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, since July 1, 2021, these devices have remained illegal. Furthermore, in October of 2023, the Supreme Court of Virginia upheld the legislature’s ban on these devices and green-lit enforcement. 

Continuing to knowingly possess, operate, and play these illegal devices carry serious consequences.

Operation of illegal gambling is a Class 6 felony, which may result in a term of imprisonment for up to five years, or confinement in jail for up to twelve months and/or a fine up to $2,500, and can also be subject to a civil penalty of up to $25,000 per device. Possession of an illegal gambling device is a Class 1 misdemeanor, which may result in confinement in jail for up to twelve months or a fine up to $2,500, or both. 

Visit here for the Fairfax County Government’s skill game guide for business owners.

In addition, PLAYING an illegal skill game machine could result in criminal charges of illegal gambling which is a Class 3 misdemeanor and may result in a fine up to $500.

If you witness illegal gambling, including operation of skill game machines, you are encouraged to submit a report to the Illegal Gambling Tipline either by phone at (833) 889-2300 or online. Sen. Reeves (R-Orange) and I passed legislation to create this tipline last year. 

Last month, a major “skill” game developer, Pace-O-Matic, revealed its latest attempt to bring back those slot-like machines to Virginia’s convenience stores, truck stops and restaurants. Their flimsy justification? A new legal argument by their own lawyers, and backed in the press by former attorneys general on their payroll, claiming that if players don’t insert cash directly, the machines don’t fall under the definition of “skill” games currently banned by law.

As delegates representing different parts of Virginia but first elected to the General Assembly together in 2015, this isn’t our first time around the block. Our time together on the ABC/gaming subcommittee has given us consistent exposure to the “skill” game issue and we are well versed on every argument that has been made for why legislators should legalize these machines. This is a blatant scheme to bypass the authority and clear legislative intent of the General Assembly’s ban on these gambling devices. The developer’s new machines require business owners to handle the cash transactions — effectively trying to sneak past the law.

Pace-O-Matic’s move is just the latest in a series of bad-faith efforts to flood Virginia with these machines. They’ve shown they will stop at nothing to make these slots a permanent fixture in our state, even against the clear intent of lawmakers. Most of the nation has successfully kept these machines out of their states. Why can’t we do the same?

This latest action from Pace-O-Matic has raised concerns across the political spectrum, with the governor and attorney general voicing their opposition to this attempt to bring slot-like machines back and reminding localities that penalties for breaking the law are already on the books and include hefty fines, regardless of whether a local business is purposely skirting Virginia law.

The reasons to reject these machines were clear long before this new stunt. In the few other states they are in, “skill” games target low-income, at-risk communities, and the data from Virginia’s brief legal gray area is damning: 70% of machines were placed in areas below the state’s median household income. Worse, these machines are often poorly monitored, making them accessible to minors and problem gamblers. Carolyn Hawley of the Virginia Council on Problem Gaming noted that “skill” games rank among the top three activities cited by callers to the state’s gambling addiction hotline.

As Virginia lawmakers we will not reward this brazen disregard for the law. The time for compromise is over. The ban must not be lifted. Allowing these machines to become legal would be a disastrous mistake for our communities.

Our colleagues in the General Assembly tried to find a workable regulatory framework last session, but “skill” game developers have repeatedly fought against regulatory safeguards that would protect consumers. And now who can trust them? Even Pace-O-Matic’s dwindling number of supporters in the legislature can see that this farce has gone on long enough. This latest attempt to sidestep any regulations or oversight shows they have no interest in acting responsibly or in good faith.