Pennsylvania Skill Games: The Cutoff Is Tomorrow. Here Is the Last-Day Checklist.
If you still have skill-game machines on the floor, today is the day to finish the job. The Supreme Court’s 120-day safe harbor ends Tuesday, October 13, and State Police say enforcement begins Wednesday, October 14, with seizure and criminal prosecution on the table. Local reports describe distributors already pulling machines from stores, including in Philadelphia. Lawmakers do not return to Harrisburg until Monday, October 19, five days after enforcement starts.
Here is the short list.
Step one: remove, don’t just unplug. State Police guidance is about removal, not powering down. Get the machine physically out.
Step two: paper the removal. Serial numbers, pickup date, who took it, and a signed receipt from your vendor. If an officer asks on Wednesday, a dated record is your answer.
Step three: protect the license. Seizure is only part of the exposure. Proceeds can be seized, and a liquor license can draw an administrative citation. Call counsel today if you hold one.
Step four: keep your numbers. Revenue, location and machine records will matter for any future licensing framework or any dispute with a vendor.
Step five: brief your staff. Who answers questions, who gets called, and what everyone says.
On the legislation, we are still tracking multiple bills. One reported bill, HB 2801, would create a Gaming Control Board framework, tax skill games and ban sweepstakes casinos, but it has not become law, and we have not confirmed its sponsor. A bill that has not moved in 120 days will not rescue anyone by Wednesday.
Chicago VGT Live Tracker
By the numbers (Illinois Gaming Board lists, City = Chicago, pulled October 12): 64 licensed establishments (latest status date September 3) and 292 pending applications (290 establishments, one veterans establishment, one truck stop; latest status date October 10). Pending is unchanged from yesterday. We reported 65 licensed yesterday; today’s raw list shows 64 with no new status date, so we are using 64.
Application growth: pending applications are up 2.8% since September 24 (284 to 292, 8 net new in 18 days) and 1.7% since October 1 (287 to 292). Steady intake, no surge. Licensed approvals have not moved: zero new state licenses dated after September 3.
Hot Items to Go Live (the approvals that have to happen before a terminal turns on in Chicago):
City local licensing. The city has issued no local VGT licenses per all reporting we found, so zero terminals are operating despite the state approvals. This is the gate that matters most.
Conditional-license ordinance (O2026-0024090, Waguespack/Lawson). Recommended by the License Committee April 13, deferred and published by the full Council April 15, and not back for a vote since. It would let the city accept applications and collect its $500 fee while state approval is pending.
The repeal push. Mayor Johnson asked the Council to reverse course on VGTs (WTTW, June 12). We found no new Council action since.
Bally’s Host Community Agreement dispute. The September 9 License Committee hearing is the latest verified event, with no follow-up date found. Bally’s opposes expansion and says it could cost the city casino tax revenue.
The 292-application state queue. Every pending application still needs Illinois Gaming Board approval before it can even reach the city step.
Nothing in those five items changed today. We found no new dated developments in Missouri, Georgia, Texas, Nevada, West Virginia, Montana, Oregon or Nebraska.
Need a Pennsylvania wind-down or contingency plan before October 14? Reach out.
