For Gopi Perikh, the row of flashing, blinking skills game machines at her 7-Eleven job in Levittown might not seem like something that prevents robberies, but she’s pretty sure it does.
“When you’re here alone and there’s someone over there playing the machines, you feel safe — especially at night," she said. "It just makes you feel like you are less likely to be robbed."
That unconventional security system may soon be gone, thanks in part to the judges on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
In June the court ruled that skill games meet the state's definition of a slot machine and are therefore operating illegally in scores of storefronts across the state. There
are some 70,000 skills game machines in Pennsylvania. Approximately 25,000 of them are in regulated casinos.
So anyone who has one in their shop, bar or nonprofit are now required to have a gambling license and hand over approximately 50% of the proceeds to the state, as licensed casinos do.
That would take about $40,000 in annual revenues from American Legion Post 834, which is celebrating its 80th year in the village of Fallsington along Yardley Avenue.
“This is gonna hurt us big time. I pay the bills with that,” said Tony Spenillo, Post 834’s treasurer.
“If they take those machines out, we will be insolvent within two years.”
Since its three machines were first brought in sometime during the COVID era, the revenue they generate has been a blessing for Post 834 and the community it serves.
“Being a nonprofit, we use that money to pay the bills, but we also use it to help people,” said Becky Sholly, assistant manager for the post’s bar.
“We bring in the old vets, and provide them with breakfasts, thanks to those machines. For kids, we pay for the [annual] Easter egg hunt and clothing drives."
Then there’s the homeless.
“For the last two years, we’ve been one of the biggest donors to help the homeless,” Sholly said.
Post 834 and its three small machines may be haven for the lonely as well.
“On Thanksgiving, people who have no family, have no one to be with, are invited to come here and we serve them dinner,” said Sholly, who works that day for that reason. “I tell them, ‘You alone on Thanksgiving Day? Fine. You’ll eat with me.’”
The Post’s mission to feed and clothe those in need is just part of what the skills machine money helps.
“That money helps with everything around here,” said Jerry Bell, Post 834’s bar manager. “We just had to replace the underground [water/sewer] pipe.”
![“Being a nonprofit, we use [skill games] money to pay the bills, but we also use it to help people,” said Becky Sholly, assistant manager for American Legion Post 834 in Fallsington. A state Supreme Court's ruling against the machines could cost the Post $40,000 a year.](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2026/09/16/NBCC/91799352007-091626-skills-games-pic-2.jpeg)
Post 834 also picks up the tab for Falls Township’s Memorial Day Parade, and donates to the Bristol Hibernians to support the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Lower Bucks.
“I don’t know how we’d replace that money,” Bell said.
Neither do state legislators, who know VFWs and Legion Posts across the state will suffer large losses in revenue that goes for good works that the government doesn’t have to carry.
The state Supreme Court placed a moratorium on the machines for 120 days so legislators can figure it out. So far, nothing has been resolved. Law enforcement is ready to confiscate every machine, per the court’s ruling, set to take effect next month.
With the deadline to regulate skill games across the state approaching in October, the Pennsylvania State Police advised establishments with the devices to discuss removing them with distributors or vendors who own the machines, according to a news release.
“Simply powering off an otherwise operable machine or unplugging them is not sufficient to comply with the law,” the release states.
State Rep. Patrick Harkins, D-Erie, is chairman of the House Gaming Oversight Committee, the body that should play a significant role in vetting and possibly advancing legislation on skill games.
In July, he told the USA TODAY Network that he’d like to see skills games regulated like video game machines.
But then there’s the taxes. Under current regulations, the state gets 55% cut of every slot machine’s gross revenue.
“Everybody says you've got to lower the tax rate to 16%, to 22%, to 40%," Harkins said. "It has to have parity with the existing casinos at 55% [for slot machines] or the casinos will then sue, because they're not operating on a level playing field in their eyes. And then you're right back where you started from.”
In the June 15 ruling, the court gave the state Legislature until Oct. 13 to figure out what to do about the games as far as regulating and taxing them. Without any action by lawmakers, possessing, operating and/or maintaining the machines will be illegal and subject to criminal prosecution starting Oct. 14.
Sholly, at Post 834, pointed to a sign in the building’s small game room to call local state reps.
“We need them to know how much is at stake,” she said.
JD Mullane can be reached at jmullane@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Stores, clubs sweating in Bucks County with skill game ban imminent
