The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has vacated Commonwealth Court orders that denied six casino operators and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) permission to intervene in litigation involving POM of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania State Police.
The per curiam order, entered October 1 in appeals 28 and 29 EAP 2023, sends the intervention applications back to the Commonwealth Court for reconsideration. The applications were originally denied in August 2023.
The casino applicants are Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, operator of Parx Casino; Downs Racing, operator of Mohegan Pennsylvania; Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association, operator of Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course; Washington Trotting Association, operator of Hollywood Casino at the Meadows; Chester Downs and Marina, operator of Harrah's Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack; and Wind Creek Bethlehem.
The Supreme Court directed the lower court to reconsider the applications in light of its June decisions in In re: Three Pennsylvania Skill Amusement Devices and POM of Pennsylvania v Commonwealth Department of Revenue.
The latest order does not grant the applicants intervention or resolve the underlying POM litigation.
Those June decisions substantially changed the legal backdrop surrounding skill games in Pennsylvania.
The Supreme Court reversed earlier Commonwealth Court rulings and held that the devices at issue fall within the Gaming Act and the Crimes Code. It found that Pennsylvania's statutory definition of a slot machine encompasses devices where skill, or a combination of skill and chance, determines the outcome.
The court stayed its June order for 120 days, acknowledging that businesses and other participants had relied on previous court decisions concerning the devices. It also said the General Assembly remained able to change the applicable statutory framework.
Pennsylvania State Police subsequently said enforcement could begin against unlicensed machines following the expiration of that period. Separately, Governor Josh Shapiro's 2026-27 budget proposal has continued to call for skill games to be regulated and taxed, demonstrating that the devices remain subject to both judicial and legislative developments.
Global Gaming Insider previously reported on state authorities' preparations for enforcement following the June Supreme Court decision.
The October order concerns applications to participate in an existing case and does not itself establish a new legal classification for Pennsylvania skill-game devices
