Parx Casino Says POM’s Products Are Skillfully Designed Slot Machines

By John Isaac,
Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac is an editor with many years of experience in the gambling industry. He writes expert articles on card games like blackjack and poker. In addition, he is also well aware of the US gambling laws and the Indian and Dutch gambling markets. You can rely on verified information and insightful details.

• Twitter
• Email

More About John Isaac

Last updated: October 12, 2022

The richest gambling property in Pennsylvania is Parx Casino. However, the Bensalem venue feels that it would be making more money if unregulated skill gaming machines weren’t operating across the Commonwealth.

The main producer and distributors of the contentious gaming terminals are the Georgia-based POM (Pace-O-Matic) and its Pennsylvania-based subsidiary, Miele Amusements. The games, which are branded as “Pennsylvania Skill,” operate and look like traditional slot machines that are found inside the legal casinos in Pennsylvania.

Skill games have ringing sounds and spinning reels similar to slots, but they are different in that the player must find a winning payline. A slot machine pays out automatically when a spin results in a win.

The Pennsylvania land-based Parx Casino, which is operated and owned by Greenwood Gaming Entertainment, sued Pace-O-Matic in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. According to the casino, POM’s products are simply skillfully designed slot machines, and the games operate outside of the state’s current gambling regulatory framework.

Lanham Act Is Cited in Lawsuit

Courts in Pennsylvania are still debating whether POM’s machines are legitimate. POM contends that because there is a skill component, the terminals do not qualify as gaming equipment and are consequently exempt from the Gaming Act of the state.

According to Parx’s legal team, the machines are prohibited under state law since they constitute unregulated gambling apparatus. In its case, Parx referred to the Lanham Act, sometimes referred to as the federal Trademark Act of 1946.

The legal representatives for Parx Casino said that the Pennsylvania Crimes Codes makes it unlawful to knowingly or intentionally assemble, make, maintain, set up, lease, sell, or lend any slot machine, except as permitted under the State Lottery Law, the Gaming Act, the Local Option Small Games of Chance Act, or the Bingo Law.

Parx’s legal team argues that POM’s machine skill component does not replace the terminals’ element of chance in deciding the outcome. The lawsuit says that Skill-branded slot machines in Pennsylvania are misrepresented as games of skill when they are not. It alleged that skill games and licensed slot machines are essentially the same.

POM Is Sued for Financial Damages

POM asserts that throughout the pandemic, their terminals have provided a lifeline for small businesses that are struggling. Revenue made from the games is split between the manufacturer, distributor, and host establishment. POM’s chief public affairs officer, Michael Barley, stated last month that they are not illegal. He says that more than 92% of each dollar earned remains in the Commonwealth and supports small businesses.

The devices are not regulated or taxed to guarantee players a minimum payout or fair play. The Pennsylvania Lottery estimates that since 2017, skill games have affected lottery sales by more than $650 million. The lawsuit ends by saying that Parx Casino has experienced and will continue to experience a substantial threat of financial losses, lasting irreparable harm, and other ongoing harm due to the proximate and direct result of POM’s improper conduct.