Verticals / Skill games
Skill games
Skill-game machines are legal and live in DC: DC, as of Oct 11, 2026. 8 states allow it in a limited form.
Skill-based gaming machines / "grey machines".
LiveLegal, not launchedLimitedContestedProhibitedNot authorizedRepealedNA
By state
| State | Status | Launched | Model | Current tax | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | Live | Mar 31, 2021 | Competitive | 10% GGR (retail) | "Game of skill machines" authorized since licensing began March 31, 2021, at licensed retail establishments (ABC-licensed on-premises alcohol retailers); manufacturers, distributors, and retailers must each hold an OLG license. Machines must reward winners based on demonstrable skill, not chance, per statutory exclusions from the "game of skill machine" definition. |
| Florida | Limited | 0% OTHER (retail) | § 849.161 exempts certain coin-operated amusement machines from the general slot-machine prohibition only if located in a qualifying arcade amusement center (50+ machines open to the public) or a licensed truck stop, and only if any prize won through application of skill is worth less than 75 cents. Machines paying higher-value prizes, or where chance (not skill) determines the outcome, fall under the § 849.16 slot-machine definition and are illegal; Florida courts and AG opinions have held that skill alone does not exempt a game if chance is also an operative element. | ||
| Georgia | Limited | Monopoly State | 13% NET_REVENUE (retail) | Georgia regulates skill-based "games of skill" terminals as Class B Coin Operated Amusement Machines (COAM) under GLC, rather than as a separate unregulated grey-machine category. See vgt for the licensing/tax detail. | |
| Idaho | Limited | 0% OTHER (retail) | Confirmed via the statute text itself (fetched directly): "gambling" does not include "[b]ona fide contests of skill, speed, strength or endurance in which awards are made only to entrants or the owners of entrants" -- so true skill contests are exempt from the gambling ban. No Idaho-specific litigation or enforcement action concerning chance- based "grey machines" marketed as skill games was found in this research pass; such devices would likely fall back under the general gambling/slot-machine prohibition (§§18-3801, 18-3810) rather than this narrow exemption. | ||
| Maryland | Limited | 0% OTHER (retail) | Skill-based amusement devices (claw machines, Skee-Ball-style ticket games, etc., with prizes up to $40 wholesale) are legal only if the owner registers them with the agency (free, renewed every 2 years); unregistered machines are illegal devices. This is a narrower category than Pennsylvania-style multi-line "skill slot machine" terminals. | ||
| New Jersey | Limited | Monopoly State | New Jersey's Division of Gaming Enforcement adopted (temporary, later permanent) regulations letting the state's Atlantic City casinos place skill-based gaming devices on their licensed casino floors, mirroring a similar Nevada framework: the rules require a minimum payout percentage and bar casinos from dynamically adjusting a device's difficulty based on a player's perceived skill level during play. This is a narrow, casino-floor-only authorization under the Casino Control Act/DGE licensing regime, not a general carve-out. No NJ-specific statute, litigation, or enforcement action concerning unregulated "grey machine"/skill-game devices outside licensed casinos (the Pace-O-Matic-style controversy seen in PA, VA, KY, GA) was identified; such devices would fall under New Jersey's general gambling-device prohibition (N.J.S.A. 2C:37) absent casino licensure. | ||
| Washington | Limited | Competitive | Not a state tax; local-option under RCW 9.46.110(3)(b). 'Amusement games' (RCW 9.46.0201: skill-dominant, merchandise-prize-only games -- the statutory category covering licensed Class 12 skill/amusement devices) may be taxed by a city/county/town only up to the actual cost of enforcement, capped in no event above 2% of gross receipts less the amount awarded as prizes. OTHER (retail) | Washington licenses certain "Class 12" amusement/skill games at non-tribal establishments under Commission rule, applying the material-degree-of-chance test (RCW 9.46.0225) to distinguish legal skill games from unlicensed slot-like devices. The Commission banned cash and gift-card payouts after some operators began paying out winnings like slot machines; legislative and regulatory debate over tighter restrictions or repeal has recurred periodically, including into 2025-2026, without a definitive statutory change confirmed as of this writing. | |
| Wisconsin | Limited | No tax regime exists because the exempted category carries no taxable cash revenue. Wis. Stat. § 945.01(3) excludes 'skill-based amusement devices' from the statutory 'gambling machine' definition only when payouts are non-cash merchandise capped at the lesser of 7 times the cost of play or $5; such devices are therefore unlicensed and untaxed as a matter of definition. Cash-payout 'grey machines' purporting to be skill games do not qualify for this exemption and are simply illegal unlicensed gambling machines under the general prohibition, not a taxed category. OTHER (retail) | Statute exempts "skill-based amusement devices" from the "gambling machine" definition only if they award non-cash merchandise capped at 7 times the cost of play or $5, whichever is less; cash-payout "grey machines" are not covered by this exemption and fall under the general gambling-machine prohibition. | ||
| Wyoming | Limited | Competitive | 20% GGR (retail) | Skill-based amusement machines spread after ~2017; a 2018 AG opinion (Formal Op. 2018-002) found them illegal gambling because a predetermined outcome/short reaction window did not make them bona fide skill contests, but the 2020 Legislature (Ch. 114) grandfathered existing machines and gave the renamed Gaming Commission licensing authority. Per the statute text itself (W.S. § 11-25-303): capped at 4 machines operating at any one time per establishment, $3.00 maximum wager per play, $3,000 maximum payout per play, games restricted to the liquor-service area, and no person under 21 may play or enter that area. | |
| California | Contested | Pace-O-Matic and distributor Republic Amusements sued the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in Merced County Superior Court (filed around July 2025) after ABC seized their skill-game terminals, seeking the machines' return and a declaration that the games are legal. California, like many states, has no statute specifically regulating these 'grey machine' skill terminals. No ruling confirmed as of this research. | |||
| Colorado | Contested | Colorado exempts bona fide "games of skill" from its gambling definition; this exemption is disputed as applied to slot-style sweepstakes/skill terminals in Denver-area gaming cafes, which have been subject to police raids contested by the Colorado Skill Games Association. | |||
| Iowa | Contested | Iowa's Dept. of Inspections and Appeals (DIA, not IRGC) regulates "amusement concession" devices under ch. 99B and has taken the position that disputed skill-style terminals are "unquestionably de facto slot machines" (Red Line Vending litigation); DIA allows only a capped number of chance-based amusement devices. A later case, Trestle Corp. v. DIA, sought judicial review of a DIA finding that its "Game of Skill" terminal is actually a game of chance, with reporting suggesting the dispute could reach the Iowa Supreme Court; no final ruling was identified. SF 2289's 2026 enforcement-power expansion (see sweepstakes_casino) also covers unlicensed "games of chance and gambling" broadly but was not confirmed to name skill-game terminals specifically. | |||
| Kansas | Contested | Legal status of unregulated skill/slot-like terminals is unsettled. In Dec. 2024 the Kansas Supreme Court held that POM of Kansas (a subsidiary of manufacturer Pace-O-Matic) lacked standing to sue state regulators over the "Dragon's Ascent" arcade game, because no cease-and-desist order had been issued and neither KRGC nor the Attorney General had opined the game was illegal; the court did not decide whether the game is skill- or chance-based. Kansas has no statutory process for certifying a game as skill-based rather than chance-based, leaving the devices in a legal gray area. No 2025-2026 legislative or enforcement update was found. | |||
| Missouri | Contested | Thousands of unregulated "no-chance"/skill-based slot-style machines (led by Torch Electronics) have operated in bars, gas stations and convenience stores for years. A federal judge ruled in February 2026 that the machines are illegal gambling devices under state law notwithstanding "No Chance Games" marketing. The AG's office pressured Torch into suspending all Missouri operations in April 2026 under threat of criminal prosecution. A House bill to let the Lottery license and regulate the machines as video lottery terminals narrowly passed the House in 2026 but stalled in the Senate. | |||
| Nebraska | Contested | Nebraska's skill-game ("slot machine-like") terminals proliferated sharply in recent years; a 2011 Nebraska Supreme Court ruling held that certain such machines were predominantly games of skill (not chance) and thus not gambling. Legislative concern followed: a bill (reported as LB685 in 2024 reporting) would have imposed a 5% tax on net revenue from the devices and required operators to derive at least 60% of gross revenue from other business lines; a later report (exact year unconfirmed, "this July") describes an enacted law imposing a 5% tax on net operating revenue and requiring central-monitoring-system connection for most such devices. The precise enacted bill number, signing date, and effective date were not independently confirmed this session. | |||
| North Carolina | Contested | "Fish Hunter"-style arcade machines and other claimed games-of-skill have operated since roughly 2017 in a disputed legal zone; some authorities treat them as illegal games of chance under the same sweepstakes-ban statute used against video poker/sweepstakes parlors, while operators market them as skill-based. | |||
| Ohio | Contested | ORC 2915.01(UU) defines a narrow legal "skill-based amusement machine" category (max $10 wholesale merchandise prize per play, prizes dispensed on-site, no cash payout); devices that pay cash or whose outcome isn't player-controlled are reclassified as illegal slot machines under 2915.01(UU)(2). The OCCC has aggressively enforced against unlicensed cash-paying "skill game"/sweepstakes terminals operating outside that carve-out, reporting over 7,948 machines seized/disabled across 181+ locations as of May 2026 (e.g., a 27-machine raid in Akron). Multiple bills to formally ban or license these machines have failed to pass. | |||
| Oregon | Contested | Resolved via direct fetch of ORS 167.117 itself: Oregon defines "contest of chance" as any contest in which the outcome depends in a material degree on chance, "notwithstanding that skill of the contestants may also be a factor therein" — i.e., unlike some states (e.g., Idaho, which exempts "bona fide contests of skill" outright), Oregon's statute has no standalone skill-game carve-out; a grey/skill-game machine's legality turns on the same material-degree-of-chance test used for DFS and sweepstakes casinos. No enforcement action or AG opinion specifically addressing skill-game machines (as distinct from Lottery VLTs) was identified. | |||
| Pennsylvania | Contested | PA Supreme Court ruled June 17, 2026 (In re Three Pennsylvania Skill Amusement Devices / POM of Pennsylvania v. Dept. of Revenue, consolidated, J-96-2025) that "skill games" are slot machines subject to the Gaming Act and Crimes Code, reversing Commonwealth Court. Enforcement stayed 120 days (to roughly mid/late Oct. 2026). ~70,000 machines statewide (manufacturer Pace-O-Matic est.); legislature excluded a licensing framework from the 2026-27 budget; HB 2801 would license up to 5 machines per qualifying location at a 20% tax on gross terminal revenue. | |||
| Texas | Contested | "Eight-liner" video slot-style machines rely on the Penal Code 47.01(4)(B) amusement exception (noncash prizes only, capped at the lesser of $5 or 10x the cost of play). AG Morales's 1998 Opinion DM-466 argued the exception is itself unconstitutional because the Texas Constitution bars the legislature from authorizing any lottery exception for small prizes. A Fort Worth Court of Appeals ruling on remand from the Texas Supreme Court's Rylie II decision held that eight-liner video machines relying on the exception are unconstitutional lotteries. SB 517 (2025, 89th session) sought to define "eight-liner" and create a clearer skill-based defense (following similar failed 2019 bills HB 1775/SB 376); its final disposition was not independently confirmed. Enforcement (AG civil actions, local prosecutors) remains inconsistent statewide. | |||
| Connecticut | Prohibited | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53-278a(4) defines "gambling device" broadly as any device "by the operation of which a right to money, credits, deposits or other things of value may be created, as a result of the operation of an element of chance," or one that "does not return the same value of thing of value for the same consideration upon each operation." A 2005 Attorney General formal opinion applying that definition to a coin-operated machine held that "the possibility that skill could, in some way, affect the outcome of the game does not convert this device into a game of skill outside the reach of the gambling laws," because chance "must be partly responsible for a win, but need not be exclusively responsible" — concluding the device was an illegal slot machine. DCP's Gaming Division states "Electronic gaming (slot) machines are only allowed at Foxwoods Casino and Mohegan Sun Casino. All machines found outside of those facilities are illegal," and in Feb. 2025 announced the confiscation of unlicensed machines under that policy (one had collected $191,359 while paying out only 66% to players). No Connecticut-specific "skill game"/Pace-O-Matic litigation, bill, or DCP guidance distinct from this general framework was found; Pennsylvania/Georgia-style cash-payout terminals outside the two tribal casinos fall under this same actively enforced device ban. | |||
| Hawaii | Prohibited | Resolved via direct fetch of §712-1220's "contest of chance" definition, which applies "notwithstanding that skill of the contestants may also be a factor therein" — Hawaii has no standalone skill-game exemption, unlike, e.g., Idaho. Grey/skill-game machines with any material degree of chance fall under the general gambling prohibition, which (unlike most states) has no charitable, promotional, or skill-specific carve-out beyond narrow social gambling. | |||
| Kentucky | Prohibited | HB 594 (2023), signed by Gov. Beshear, banned "gray machines"/no-chance skill games statewide with fines of up to $25,000 per machine. Attorney General Russell Coleman's office obtained summary judgment upholding the ban from Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd on June 28, 2024; in September 2024 Coleman issued guidance to prosecutors applying the ban to "no-chance" machines (estimating 500+ operating unlawfully at the time). The Kentucky Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the ban on February 27, 2026. | |||
| Massachusetts | Prohibited | No Massachusetts statute authorizes unregulated "skill game"/"grey machine" cash-payout terminals (the Pennsylvania/Georgia-style Pace-O-Matic category) in bars or convenience stores. M.G.L. c.271 §5A broadly bans "gambling devices" (slot machines and similar machines that pay out money/property) outside licensed casinos, punishable by a fine up to $5,000 and mandatory forfeiture of the device. The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission found in 2017 that VFW Post 8428 (Belchertown) violated its liquor license by operating two such machines -- branded "Massachusetts Skill Touch" and "Diamond Skilled Games Gold" -- for cash payouts (investigators found $1,340 and $685 inside the machines), suspending its pouring license for 5 days, held in abeyance for 2 years absent further violations. More recently, the Attorney General's office filed in Suffolk Superior Court (filing reported Sept. 2024) to forfeit $182,189.11 that Boston Police seized from a hidden three-machine slots room at Harvard Convenience Store in Allston (May 2024 raid), on the theory that slot machines are illegal outside Gaming-Commission-licensed casinos and the store held no such license. Local licensing authorities separately may license/suspend a distinct category of "automatic amusement devices" under c.140 §177A for games involving skill (e.g. pinball), but that statute expressly bars using a licensed device "for the purpose of gambling," so it provides no path to legalize cash-payout skill-game terminals. A further distinct, Gaming Commission-regulated "skill-based slot machine" category exists only at licensed casinos under the 2011 casino law. No Massachusetts bill, AG opinion, or court ruling authorizing unlicensed cash-payout skill-game terminals outside licensed casinos was found. | |||
| Mississippi | Prohibited | No skill-game carve-out exists in Mississippi law. The Mississippi Gaming Commission's public FAQ states that under Miss. Code Ann. § 97-33-1 et seq., any device requiring consideration, involving an element of chance, and offering the potential to win a reward of value is an illegal gambling device/slot machine subject to seizure and destruction under § 97-33-7, regardless of any skill element. The Mississippi Supreme Court (Wright/Henson line of cases construing Miss. Code Ann. § 75-76-5(ff)) held that a machine need only have the "potential for reward" to be a slot machine subject to seizure, so purported "skill" games are treated the same as slot machines outside MGC-licensed casinos. No current MS legislative carve-out for gray/skill machines was identified. | |||
| New Mexico | Prohibited | New Mexico Administrative Code 15.1.22.7 defines a "gaming machine" to include any coin/payment-activated device that, for consideration, affords a chance at anything of value "the award of which is determined by chance, even though accompanied by some skill" -- an unlicensed such device is an "illegal gaming machine" subject to seizure and forfeiture under the Gaming Control Act and NMSA § 30-19-10. The rule's narrow "amusement device" exemption (15.1.22.7(B), 15.1.22.8) covers only machines offering free replays (no cash/credit payout), requiring continuous player control for the whole game and no credit meter; Pace-O-Matic-style "skill game"/grey machines that pay cash or credits do not qualify for that exemption and are therefore treated as illegal unlicensed gaming machines outside licensed venues. (State ex rel. NM Gaming Control Board v. Ten Gaming Devices, 2005-NMCA-117, addressed forfeiture of slot-type machines in a private home and found them not subject to forfeiture on those facts, but did not create a commercial skill-game carve-out.) | |||
| New York | Prohibited | N.Y. Penal Law § 225.00 defines a "gambling device" broadly as any device used in the playing phases of gambling, and a "contest of chance" as one whose outcome depends in a material degree on chance even if skill is also a factor; the slot-machine/coin-operated-gambling-device definitions' narrow carve-out protects only machines awarding free or extended play (not cash or redeemable credits) where the outcome depends in a material degree on player skill rather than chance. New York courts have applied this chance-dominant test to video devices (e.g., Plato's Cave Corp. v. State Liquor Authority, treating a poker-style video game as a contest of chance). Consistent with that framework, cash-paying "skill game"/grey machines outside licensed gaming venues are treated as illegal gambling devices in practice: Nassau County police seized four such machines (with over $4,000 cash inside) from a Roosevelt fish market in May 2026, charging the operator under Alcoholic Beverage Control Law and local public-assembly licensing provisions. No New York statute creates a Pace-O-Matic-style statewide skill-game carve-out or licensing regime. | |||
| Oklahoma | Prohibited | Non-compact "eight-liner"/coin-pusher machines paying cash or cash-equivalent prizes are treated as illegal gaming devices by the Oklahoma Tax Commission outside the tribal/racetrack compact framework; a 2014-15 Cherokee County enforcement action (OTC compliance officer flag, sheriff's office investigation) targeted such machines at local businesses. Separately, a federal case found the Absentee Shawnee Tribe's claimed "skill" gaming machines were in fact Class II/III games of chance under IGRA, not exempt carnival/amusement games, and ordered them halted. Title 3A's compact-based "electronic amusement games" (which include a skill element per § 270) remain a distinct, compact-authorized category, not an unregulated grey-machine one. | |||
| Rhode Island | Prohibited | No Rhode Island statute, regulation, or bill authorizes unregulated "skill game"/"grey machine" cash-payout terminals (the Pennsylvania/Georgia-style Pace-O-Matic category) in bars or convenience stores; a renewed search (2026-10-11) of General Assembly bill text, Lottery announcements, and AG records again found no Rhode Island-specific skill-game carve-out. R.I. Gen. Laws §11-19-1 ("Forms of gambling prohibited") makes it a felony (up to 2 years' imprisonment and a $2,000 fine) to "directly or indirectly, set up, put forth, carry on, promote, or draw, publicly or privately," any "lottery, chance, game, or device of any nature or kind whatsoever," with exceptions only for activities authorized elsewhere in the gambling chapter and the state lottery/pari-mutuel/casino-gaming titles. Rhode Island State Police have enforced this statute against unlicensed cash-payout machines of exactly this type in convenience stores: a 2012 State Police Intelligence Unit investigation (with the Division of Taxation) executed search and arrest warrants at three northern Rhode Island convenience stores (Columbus Mini-Mart, Pawtucket; International Market, Woonsocket; DB Mart, Smithfield) for operating unlicensed cash-payout gambling machines, stating "these forms of gambling machines are illegal in the State of Rhode Island." No more recent (2020s) Rhode Island skill-game-specific seizure, bill, or ruling was found this session. Separately, the Rhode Island Constitution requires approval by statewide and local referendum before any law expanding the types of gambling takes effect, a further barrier to any future skill-game legalization. | |||
| South Dakota | Prohibited | A 2008 South Dakota Attorney General Official Opinion (No. 08-04) concluded that coin-pusher/"quarter pusher" machines are illegal slot machines, not amusement devices, applying the state's chance-predominance test from Bayer v. Johnson; no subsequent South Dakota statute, court ruling, or AG opinion confirming a contrary current treatment of modern "skill game"/grey machines was identified in this research pass, so this opinion is the most recent South Dakota-specific authority found. Treated as prohibited on that basis, while noting the opinion predates current skill-game designs and manufacturer skill-based defenses litigated in other states. | |||
| Tennessee | Prohibited | A Shelby County Chancery Court three-judge panel ruled in July 2025 against Torch Electronics, holding that its "No Chance Games" machines (found in gas stations and convenience stores) are illegal gambling devices under Tennessee law, rejecting the manufacturer's arguments that the games involve sufficient skill to fall outside the gambling definition and that the statute is unconstitutionally vague; this in-force ruling supports enforcement actions against grey machines across the state. No subsequent reversal or appellate ruling was identified in this research pass. | |||
| Utah | Prohibited | "Skill-based game" is defined in §76-9-1401(18), but the statute's "video gaming device" and "fringe gaming device" definitions (and their anti-circumvention clauses targeting devices that "seek to avoid application or circumvent this part or Utah Constitution, Article VI, Section 27") sweep in chance-plus-skill "grey machines" regardless of a skill claim; possessing such a device for gambling use is a crime. | |||
| Virginia | Prohibited | Pandemic-era carve-out for "skill game" machines expired June 30, 2021; machines continued under a court injunction until the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in Oct. 2023 that they are unlawful gambling devices. Gov. Youngkin vetoed a 2023 legalization bill; Gov. Spanberger vetoed SB661 (up to 25,000 machines, 25% tax, 21+, local opt-out referendum) on April 10, 2026, citing the lack of a centralized gaming regulator and disproportionate machine placement in lower-income/minority communities during the legal period. | |||
| West Virginia | Prohibited | W. Va. Code ch. 61, art. 10 criminalizes keeping or displaying a slot machine, multiple-coin console, or similar device, including any "device in the nature of a slot machine" regardless of name, as a misdemeanor; a separate provision criminalizes knowingly permitting such a device on premises one occupies. Article 22B's "video gambling machine" definition captures any computerized device not approved/registered by the Lottery Commission whose storage code cannot reasonably be demonstrated to have a non-gambling use, which would capture unlicensed "skill game" terminals outside the licensed Limited Video Lottery program. No court ruling specific to modern skill-game terminals was identified in this research pass, but the statutory scheme criminalizes unlicensed devices of this kind. | |||
| Arkansas | Repealed | Before Amendment 100 (2018), Arkansas permitted "electronic games of skill" at licensed racing venues (Oaklawn and Southland) under a framework dating to Act 1151 of 2005, which let voters in cities/ counties with existing racing parks approve such machines; the devices were defined to require some exercise of skill such that chance did not completely control the outcome (following the Longstreth lottery-definition case law). Amendment 100 superseded this framework by converting those venues to full casinos with traditional slot machines and table games. | |||
| Alabama | Not authorized | No statute creates a licensed "skill game"/grey-machine carve-out comparable to other states' programs; Section 13A-12-27's gambling-device prohibition and definitions apply generally. No skill-game-specific litigation or legislation identified. | |||
| Alaska | Not authorized | Resolved via the same direct statute fetch used for the DFS analysis: §11.66.280(2)'s "contest of chance" definition applies "notwithstanding that the skill of the contestants may also be a factor," so Alaska has no standalone "bona fide contest of skill" exemption comparable to, e.g., Idaho's statute. A grey/skill-game machine with any material degree of chance would fall under the general gambling prohibition; no specific enforcement action or AG opinion addressing skill-game machines was identified, but absent a carve-out or authorization, not_authorized is the correct default per the Choosing-a-Status rule. | |||
| Arizona | Not authorized | No Arizona statute or ADG carve-out authorizes unregulated "skill game"/grey-machine terminals; A.R.S. § 13-3301's broad gambling definition (risking something of value on a game of chance or skill) and Title 13, Ch. 33's gambling crimes apply absent a specific exemption, and none was located. | |||
| Delaware | Not authorized | No Delaware statute, bill, AG opinion, or court ruling authorizes unregulated "skill game"/"grey machine" cash-payout terminals (the Pennsylvania/Georgia-style Pace-O-Matic category) in bars or convenience stores; a renewed, targeted search (2026-10-11) for Delaware-specific skill-game litigation, enforcement, or legislation (the subject of active disputes in PA, KY, VA, MO, NC, TN and other states) again found none. 11 Del. C. §1432(c) defines "gambling device" broadly as any device/machine/paraphernalia/equipment "used or usable in the playing phases of any gambling activity," with no skill-based carve-out, and §1405 makes knowingly manufacturing, keeping, possessing, or exhibiting such a device a class A misdemeanor; the only exceptions are antique slot machines (25+ years, not used for gambling) and the State's own video lottery machines (§1405(e)). The Delaware Lottery holds the only authorized cash-payout terminal program (video lottery at the 3 racetrack-based facilities); by 29 Del. C. §4819(a), video lottery machines "shall only be located within the confines of an existing racetrack property," so there is no licensing path for skill-game-style cash terminals in ordinary retail locations. | |||
| Illinois | Not authorized | Illinois does not have a separate unregulated "skill game"/"grey machine" category outside the licensed Video Gaming Act framework; 720 ILCS 5/28-1(b)(13) exempts games of skill/chance with no purchase required to play, but any machine requiring payment to play for a prize is a regulated VGT or an illegal gambling device. SB 1705 (2025) would further tighten the "gambling device" definition to target unlicensed sweepstakes/skill terminals. | |||
| Indiana | Not authorized | No Indiana statute authorizes unregulated "skill game"/grey machines outside licensed casino and charity gaming. Indiana's unlawful-gambling statute (IC 35-45-5-2) defines gambling as risking money or property for gain where the outcome depends "in whole or in part" on chance or on a "gambling device," a standard broad enough to reach most chance-hybrid terminals. Attorney General Advisory Opinion 2001-09 (Jan. 2002) considered whether a "Skill Slot" machine should be excluded from the gambling code; its final conclusion could not be located in this research, and no recent (2025-26) Indiana litigation or IGC enforcement action on grey machines (unlike neighboring KY, MO, PA) was found. | |||
| Louisiana | Not authorized | Only "approved video draw poker devices" licensed under the Video Draw Poker Devices Control Law (La. R.S. 27:401 et seq.) are statutorily exempted from being "gambling devices" (see vgt); that exemption applies to Gaming Control Board-licensed machines, not unlicensed third-party "skill game"/grey machines. No LGCB approval, AG opinion, or litigation specifically addressing unlicensed skill-game terminals (the subject of active disputes in KY, PA, VA, MO) was found; such devices would fall under the general gambling prohibition (La. R.S. 14:90) absent LGCB approval. | |||
| Maine | Not authorized | Section 1841 bars licensing a "machine or slot machine" for operation except a licensed "electronic video machine," and separately prohibits any game of skill incorporating a mechanical or physical device that impedes the player's skill, or any game where the operator controls the outcome; Maine's crane/claw-machine rules (16-222 CMR ch. 8) similarly deem a device a prohibited game of chance if it fails to meet listed skill-verification criteria. Consistent with this framework, an August 2026 Gardiner, Maine enforcement inquiry into a cash-accepting "skill" machine dispensing collectible cards found that licensed nonprofit organizations may legally operate such machines but for-profit businesses may not; no charges had been filed as of reporting. No statewide "skill game"/grey-machine terminal program for for-profit operators (of the Pennsylvania/Georgia type) exists in Maine. | |||
| Michigan | Not authorized | No Michigan statute authorizing unregulated skill-based "grey machine" gaming terminals was identified; general gambling-device prohibitions in the Michigan Penal Code and Gaming Control and Revenue Act apply. Secondary source only; could not find Michigan-specific skill-game litigation comparable to Pennsylvania/Georgia this session. | |||
| Minnesota | Not authorized | Minn. Stat. § 609.75 subd. 4 defines "gambling device" as a contrivance affording a player the chance to win something of value "determined principally by chance," and expressly includes a "video game of chance" (subd. 8). Subd. 8(2) sweeps in any video game that "awards game credits or replays and contains a meter or device that records unplayed credits or replays," regardless of how much skill is involved, and subd. 2 confirms a wager stays a "bet" even when "the chance is accompanied by some element of skill." Minn. Stat. § 609.76 subd. 1(4)-(5) makes it a gross misdemeanor to set up a gambling device for gambling use or to manufacture/sell/supply one, with the only licensing exception running through section 299L.07 (the Ch. 299L/349 charitable-gambling and tribal licensing system). No statute carves out Pennsylvania/Georgia-style cash-payout "skill game" terminals in bars or convenience stores outside that licensed system, and a genuine search found no Minnesota AGED enforcement action, AG opinion, court ruling, or bill specifically addressing such grey machines. | |||
| Montana | Not authorized | Montana's Amusement Games Act (Title 23, ch. 6) codifies a narrow, permitted category of coin/token-operated "games of skill" (carnival/arcade-style games such as pocket billiards, shuffleboard, and "other coin- or token-operated games of skill") under a specific 3-part statutory skill test, separate from licensed VGM/gambling devices; §23-6-106 independently prohibits gambling and illegal gambling devices. No unregulated slot-style "skill game" grey-machine industry (as seen in Kentucky, Pennsylvania or Virginia) was found to exist in Montana; any device resembling a gambling device falls under the licensed VGM framework (Title 23, ch. 5) instead of the Amusement Games Act's narrow carve-out. | |||
| Nevada | Not authorized | No Nevada statute or regulation carves out unlicensed "skill game"/grey-machine terminals from NRS 463's broad gaming-device licensing requirement; a second research pass (targeted search) found no Nevada-specific grey-machine legislation or enforcement action, consistent with Nevada regulating virtually all gaming devices as licensed slot machines under NRS 463. | |||
| New Hampshire | Not authorized | RSA 647:2(V)(b) narrowly exempts "family entertainment centers" with 50+ amusement games and no more than 15% redemption slot/poker machines; general unauthorized "gambling machines" otherwise fall under the RSA 647:2 prohibition and RSA 287-D:26-32 ("Unlawful Gambling Machines") enforcement provisions. | |||
| North Dakota | Not authorized | N.D.C.C. § 12.1-28-02(4) defines a prohibited "coin-operated gaming device" by reference to chance-based payout; no North Dakota statute creates a carve-out for skill-based "grey machines" (the Pace-O-Matic-style devices litigated in VA/KY/MO/PA). The only electronic gaming devices North Dakota licenses outside tribal casinos are chance-based electronic pull-tabs/electronic quick-shot bingo under the charitable-gaming statute (ch. 53-06.1), and the state actively restricts even those: a May 2022 Gaming Commission rule change redefined "bar" to exclude gas stations and liquor/grocery/convenience stores specifically to stop e-tab machines from being placed in those locations (some had begun selling alcohol to "masquerade" as bars), and a 2025 bill draft (25.1348) proposed codifying that exclusion in statute. No separate skill-game statute, carve-out, or enforcement action distinct from the e-tab/charitable-gaming framework was identified. | |||
| South Carolina | Not authorized | Biennial state license tax on coin-operated machines under §12-21-2720: $50 for music/kiddie-ride machines, $200 for amusement/video-game machines without a free-play feature, and $4,000 for nonpayout-type machines and in-line pin games; a license does not legalize an otherwise-prohibited payout machine (§12-21-2736). PER_MACHINE (retail) | South Carolina has no licensing regime for "skill game"/grey machines comparable to Pennsylvania's or Georgia's. Section 12-21-2710 bans coin machines with a free-play/payout feature used for poker, blackjack, keno, lotto, bingo or craps regardless of a skill element; nonpayout amusement devices remain licensable under §12-21-2720. In 1998, the SC Supreme Court held in Johnson v. Collins Entertainment Co. (Op. No. 24858) that Type II/III video gaming machines did not themselves constitute unconstitutional lotteries, but that ruling predates the 2000 statutory payout ban and was expressly interlocutory. | ||
| Vermont | Not authorized | No statute authorizes unregulated skill-game terminals; gambling-machine sale/lease/possession is prohibited under 13 V.S.A. §§2135-2136 absent a specific license. |