BLCE

Pace-O-Matic Files Lawsuit Against Pennsylvania Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement

Published

3 years ago

April 14, 2022

Pace-O-Matic, which powers Pennsylvania Skill games, filed a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court against the Pennsylvania Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE), alleging it engaged in coordinated harassment against Pennsylvania Skill operators and location owners where these legal skilled games are played.

The company is seeking to permanently block BLCE from targeting Pace-O-Matic (POM) games along with the veterans’ organizations, fraternal clubs and small businesses where the games are located.

In one of the most damning parts of the complaint, POM alleges that BLCE has been in direct contact with the casino industry as part of a conspiracy to disparage POM and assist casino operatives in slandering POM. As documented in the complaint, a casino public relations operative contacted the Clearfield County District Attorney regarding a skill games seizure there as part of the alleged cooperative effort with BLCE.

“It is undeniable that BLCE officials coordinated with a for-profit company to harass POM and organizations and businesses where Pennsylvania Skill games are played,” said Mike Barley, spokesman for Pace-O-Matic. “This is a clear betrayal of the public trust by a law enforcement agency.”

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

The complaint alleges the following:

Starting in 2018, BLCE began targeted harassment towards POM and its business partners.
BLCE targeted only locations with Pennsylvania Skill games with threats and seizures. BLCE leadership, in fact, trained enforcement officers to differentiate Pennsylvania Skill games from competitors’ games, including training the officers on the colors and logos of Pennsylvania Skill. Locations with Pennsylvania Skill games received harsher treatment than locations with other gaming machines.
BLCE leadership instructed bureau officers to misstate gaming law or court decisions in an effort to scare locations into removing their skill games. When those efforts failed, officers threatened citations that would lead to a loss of the location’s liquor license.
BLCE – in conjunction with casino public relations personnel — recruited the Clearfield County district attorney to seize Pennsylvania Skill games. In fact, BLCE has been in contact with lawyers and lobbyists for casinos in a conspiracy to disparage POM and assist casino lobbyists in interfering in POM’s business.
Some locations cited for maintaining skill games were contacted by BLCE lawyers, who offered to reduce citation fines in exchange for assistance in building a case against POM and Pennsylvania Skill.
BLCE has contacted district attorneys throughout the Commonwealth to enlist prosecutors’ help in seizing Pennsylvania Skill games.

Operators of casinos in Pennsylvania, which are seeing record revenue, have opposed skill games for years, claiming they cut into casino profits. Research by a Villanova University economics professor, however, demonstrates that this is false.

Pennsylvania Skill operates games in locally owned small businesses such as bars, restaurants and convenience stores, along with fraternal clubs and veterans organizations.

Skill games can be won every time if the player uses mental skill and patience, unlike slot machines that are games of pure chance. In 2014, a Common Pleas court determined that Pennsylvania Skill games are legal because of the skill factor.

The complaint states that BLCE’s “conduct is all the more remarkable, and wrongful, because the Bureau has never articulated a factual or legal basis for maintaining that the Skill Game is an illegal gambling device” following the 2014 court decision.

Andrew H Dowling

Judge Rules that Pennsylvania Skill Games are ‘Devices of Skill’

Published

1 year ago

June 7, 2023

GamingAmericas.com

judge-rules-that-pennsylvania-skill-games-are-‘devices-of-skill’

A Monroe County judge has ruled that Pennsylvania Skill games are legal. Click here to read the order from Monroe County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jonathan Mark.

Games were seized in 2022 from a small business during a seizure carried out by the Monroe County District Attorney’s office in coordination with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Liquor Control and Enforcement (BLCE) even though skill games have been deemed legal by courts of law.

In his ruling, Judge Mark said Pennsylvania Skill ‘devices are games of skill and not games of chance’.

In a Monroe County ruling earlier this year on the seized skill games, a judge reprimanded county prosecutors alleging misconduct in the investigation and their prosecution of legal skill games. Click here to read the Monroe County order.

“The court finds that the Commonwealth improperly withheld and misrepresented material evidence relative to the issuance of the search warrant in this matter and that such conduct warrants the suppression of the seized property,” Monroe County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Harlacher Sibum wrote.

Pennsylvania Skill games also have been deemed legal skill games by other courts this year. Pace-O-Matic won a return of property motion in York County. This property – gaming machines, related equipment and cash – was wrongfully seized by BLCE. Click here to read the York County order.

In addition, a Dauphin County judge ruled in favor of the games and against county prosecutors this year. Click here to read the Dauphin County ruling.

“Initially, it is this Court’s belief that the Commonwealth’s investigation shows case bias,” Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge Andrew H Dowling wrote. “The Commonwealth is seeking to make all machines like the POM Machines into illegal gambling devices and their whole approach and intent is to shut down games regardless of the actual gameplay. Thus, the Commonwealth as a whole is biased against the games and their approach lacks case credibility.”

“Pace-O-Matic’s Pennsylvania Skill games are legal,” the counsel for Pace-O-Matic, Matthew Haverstick of Kleinbard LLC, said. “The Commonwealth has wrongfully seized its equipment for years with no credible evidence that the games are illegal. Judges are now carefully looking at the evidence and ruling in our favor.”

“Again, another Pennsylvania court has found that Pennsylvania Skill games, powered by Pace-O-Matic, are legal games of predominant skill,” the Chief Public Affairs Officer for Pace-O-Matic, Mike Barley, said. “With the legality of our games upheld repeatedly, we are eager to work with the legislature to pass legislation that will fairly regulate and tax the skill game industry. In fact, Pace-O-Matic stands out among our competitors as the active driving force seeking additional regulation and taxation.”

Legislation introduced by Pennsylvania Senator Gene Yaw will regulate skill games and tax them at a rate that would generate $300 million a year for the Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania Skill games have been ruled games of predominant skill by courts in Beaver, Dauphin, Monroe and York counties. Additionally, after a review of the law and court decisions, skill games also have been returned in both Clearfield and Delaware counties.

Pennsylvania Skill has pumped new life into the Commonwealth’s small businesses, fraternal and social clubs, volunteer fire companies and veterans’ organizations by providing an entertainment product that the public enjoys. Meanwhile, research data proves skill games do not impact the revenue of casinos and the lottery, both achieving record profits yearly.

Pennsylvania Skill games are manufactured in the Commonwealth and over 90% of the profits stay inside the state. That is unheard of in gaming and many other industries. Pace-O-Matic is proud of its record and looks forward to continuing to benefit Pennsylvania businesses, clubs and taxpayers now and in the future.

As part of ongoing efforts to ensure compliance, Pace-O-Matic employs a team of former state police officers to enforce all terms of contracts and codes of conduct. These contracted terms limit the number of machines, where they are placed in a location and have protections in place to prevent anyone underage from playing the devices.

In 2014, the Beaver County Court of Common Pleas ruled that Pace-O-Matic’s Pennsylvania Skill games are legal as games of predominant skill. Click here to read that court decision.

In addition, last year, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and the Clearfield County District Attorney’s office negotiated a settlement to return wrongfully seized Pennsylvania Skill games, related equipment and cash. Click here to read that order.

BLCE

Poll finds PA Voters Support Skill Games by Over a 2-to-1 Margin

Published

2 years ago

July 15, 2022

GamingAmericas.com

A new poll of likely Pennsylvania voters finds strong bipartisan agreement that respondents oppose any effort to ban skill games within the commonwealth.

The poll, commissioned by Pace-O-Matic, a national developer of skill games, and administered by Cygnal Polling and Analytics, shows only 1-in-5 voters support a ban on skill gaming, while a strong plurality want a legislative compromise to regulate and tax skill games.

“If one thing unites Republicans and Democrats, it is opposition to banning skill-based gaming,” said Cygnal pollster Brock McCleary. “The poll shows 47% of Republicans and 48% of Democrats oppose a ban, while majorities of voters across Pennsylvania – from the Northern Tier to Philadelphia and from Pittsburgh to Scranton – all oppose banning skill games.”

Unlike gambling devices, such as slot machines, skill games can be won every time if the player uses mental skill and patience. Pace-O-Matic’s skill games typically operate in locally-owned small businesses, such as bars, restaurants and convenience stores, along with fraternal organizations and veteran groups. The survey also found that when voters are made aware of the positive economic impact skill games have on these groups, support for skill games grows even higher.

“That skill-based gaming has had a positive impact on organizations, as well as local manufacturing and small businesses, resonates strongly with voters,” added McCleary. “That skill games help Pennsylvania small businesses wins support from 57% of voters. Women and Independent voters, in particular, like that skill games are manufactured in Pennsylvania. This theme of supporting struggling Pennsylvania businesses and keeping the profits within the state is a big winner with voters.

Mike Barley, chief public affairs officer for Pace-O-Matic, said the public understands the positive impact of skill games and they are supportive. He reprimanded state agencies that have negatively targeted the games. Pace-O-Matic and its Pennsylvania Skill, have been deemed legal in the Commonwealth.

The company recently announced litigation against the Pennsylvania Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE) and Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), alleging they engaged in coordinated harassment against Pennsylvania Skill operators and location owners where legal skill games are played. The complaint also indicates that the BLCE and PGCB were actively in communication with and directed by casinos and their agents to target POM skill games and their customers.

Pace-O-Matic is the nation’s leading developer of skill games, creating and marketing fun and exciting games for small businesses and fraternal and social clubs. With games in several markets across the nation, customers find enjoyment where they use their skill and patience to beat the game. In Pennsylvania, Pace-O-Matic skill games operate and are branded as Pennsylvania Skill.