Miele Manufacturing to Power Down Pennsylvania Skill Games as Supreme Court Stay Expires
Miele Manufacturing will power down Pennsylvania Skill machines during next collections ahead of the Oct. 14 end of the Supreme Court stay that deems them illegal slot machines. AG Sunday has ruled out deactivation as compliance, pressing for full removal. The General Assembly is weighing a regulatory fix to protect small business revenue.
SCCG Take — Immediate shutdowns will disrupt host revenue, yet the active legislative review creates a narrow window for operators to secure a compliant framework before broader enforcement.
Miele Manufacturing has told host locations that its Pennsylvania Skill game machines will be turned off during the next collection round. The games are set to become illegal slot machines on Oct. 14, when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s 120-day stay on its June ruling expires.
The Pennsylvania-based company manufactures the cabinets through a licensing agreement with Georgia-based Pace-O-Matic and operates through subsidiaries including Miele Amusements and Pennsylvania Amusements. These divisions informed locations this week of the power-down plan, according to reporting by Casino.org. An estimated 70,000 machines operate across the state.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday stated that simply turning off the machines does not satisfy the law. “Powering off or unplugging machines is not sufficient to comply with the law. To be clear, a slot machine does not cease being a slot machine if it has simply been turned off, unplugged, or temporarily disabled, allowing it to be readily operated,” Sunday said. Sunday is urging businesses to remove the games to avoid enforcement action.
Shutdown Details and Host Locations
The owner of a chain of grocery stores who spoke with Casino.org said Miele did not indicate whether it plans to physically remove the machines. Miele Manufacturing did not respond to requests for comment. The skill games in question feature memory-based bonus rounds such as “Follow Me.”
Court Ruling and Legislative Review
Miele and Pace-O-Matic had argued in court that player skill influences outcomes, but the Supreme Court rejected that position. Justice David Wecht wrote in the majority opinion that the General Assembly settled the matter in a 2017 enactment that expanded the Gaming Act’s definition of a slot machine to include skill and hybrid variants, making the skill element not legally significant for unregulated use.
Lawmakers in the Pennsylvania General Assembly continue to consider a fix to create a regulatory framework for skill games and preserve the critical revenue they provide to thousands of small businesses.
Reporting: Casino.org News
Generated by SCCG’s automated editorial system from published source reporting. SCCG Management holds editorial responsibility.
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