Pennsylvania State Police Just Told Businesses to Remove Skill Games. The Industry Says It Won't.

United Gaming Advisors / Monte Cristo Gaming — September 24, 2026

Key Takeaways for Gaming Operators and Advisors

• Pennsylvania State Police issued formal guidance on September 9 telling businesses to physically remove skill-game terminals before October 13 — not just power them off. PSP says it will help arrange removal if vendors won't.

• The industry is planning to do the opposite. One operator told reporters the plan is to shut off the software October 13 and leave the cabinets in place. That gap between "off" and "gone" is now a real compliance risk — the PA Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association is warning it could put liquor licenses on the line, not just the machines.

• Two legislative tracks are moving at once, and they're not the same bet. Sens. Yaw and Williams' framework, with its House companion HB 2213, proposes a $500-per-terminal monthly fee, a 50,000-terminal statewide cap, and roughly $300 million in first-year revenue. Separately, Rep. Roae is circulating a proposal to push the October 13 deadline back six months, to April 13, 2027, if the real framework doesn't land in time. There's no bill number yet.

• Chicago's VGT logjam is still three bottlenecks deep. Roughly 65 locations have state approval, but the city hasn't issued a single local license, so zero terminals are live. Meanwhile Bally's paid its required $4 million city fee on September 9 even as it keeps part of its casino construction paused over its claim that VGTs breach its Host Community Agreement.

• Missouri, Georgia, and Texas were quiet again, and West Virginia's LVL association just brought on a government-affairs firm — usually a sign an industry expects a fight ahead, not behind it.

Nineteen days from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's deadline, the most concrete thing that happened this week wasn't a bill — it was a compliance order. On September 9, Pennsylvania State Police told businesses hosting skill games to remove the terminals from their premises entirely before October 13, and offered to help arrange removal if a vendor won't come get its own equipment. That's a meaningfully higher bar than "unplug it," and it matters because at least some operators aren't planning to clear it. K&S Games operator Lena Keares told reporters the plan is to turn off the software at the end of October 13 and pick up the hardware later — cabinets stay put, just dark. Chuck Moran of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association is warning his members that gap is exactly the kind of thing that puts a liquor license at risk, independent of whatever happens with the machines themselves.

For clients with skill games on premises right now, this is the actionable item this week — not the legislative horse race. Whatever bill does or doesn't pass, PSP's written guidance is the operative standard until something supersedes it. Get it in front of counsel, get the vendor's actual removal plan in writing, and don't take "we're handling it" from an operator as confirmation that a location is covered.

That said, the legislative horse race is still worth tracking, because two genuinely different outcomes are on the table. The framework with real momentum is Sens. Gene Yaw and Anthony Williams' proposal, alongside its House companion, Rep. Danilo Burgos's HB 2213, which carries the same numbers: a $500 monthly fee per terminal, a cap of 50,000 terminals statewide, and a projected $300 million in first-year revenue, plus new authority for local governments to set health-and-safety rules for host locations. Coverage this week is careful to note no deal is actually finalized and bill text wasn't public yet — so treat those numbers as the current ask, not settled law. Running in parallel is a very different kind of proposal: Rep. Brad Roae is circulating a memo for legislation that would push the October 13 deadline six months, to April 13, 2027, which is less a regulatory answer than an admission that the legislature might not get there in time. Rep. Russ Diamond's separate 20%-tax, five-machine-cap package, first floated back on September 1, still doesn't have a bill number 23 days later.

Chicago's VGT rollout is still stuck at the same three bottlenecks. The City Council legalized VGTs in its December 2025 budget, and the Illinois Gaming Board has approved roughly 65 Chicago locations since. But the city hasn't issued a single local license, so zero terminals are running, and the $6.8 million the 2026 budget assumed from VGTs hasn't arrived. Mayor Johnson's office tried to get the Council to repeal legalization in June and couldn't find the votes. It also skipped the September 9 License Committee hearing. Bally's paid its required $4 million Host Community Agreement fee that same day, but it's still holding back roughly 12% of its $1.7 billion resort's amenities over its argument that VGTs breach the HCA's ban on new forms of gambling. The technical wrinkle: VGTs were authorized under a separate 2009 statute from the one the HCA references, and both sides are fighting over exactly that ambiguity. State approvals are moving, city licensing is frozen, and the casino dispute is unresolved. Any of the three could be what holds things up next.

Elsewhere, it was a quieter week. Missouri: no new filings or rulings on AG Hanaway's enforcement crackdown or the operator lawsuits challenging it. Georgia: HB 353's cash-payout ban and the local-ordinance patchwork are unchanged, with COAM renewal season an ongoing item worth a reminder regardless. Texas: San Antonio's eight-liner ban, filed September 9, still has no committee hearing date two weeks later. One item worth flagging from the otherwise-quiet states: West Virginia's Amusement & Limited Video Lottery Association announced September 2 that it's retained a government-affairs firm to lead its Legislature strategy — usually a signal an industry is bracing for something, not settling in.

Reach out if you want a live read on where your operation stands today — Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri, or any of the other markets we track daily.