Compliance Updates
Judge Rules that Pennsylvania Skill Games are ‘Devices of Skill’
A Monroe County judge has ruled that Pennsylvania Skill games are legal. Click here to read the order from Monroe County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jonathan Mark.
Games were seized in 2022 from a small business during a seizure carried out by the Monroe County District Attorney’s office in coordination with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Liquor Control and Enforcement (BLCE) even though skill games have been deemed legal by courts of law.
In his ruling, Judge Mark said Pennsylvania Skill ‘devices are games of skill and not games of chance’.
In a Monroe County ruling earlier this year on the seized skill games, a judge reprimanded county prosecutors alleging misconduct in the investigation and their prosecution of legal skill games. Click here to read the Monroe County order.
“The court finds that the Commonwealth improperly withheld and misrepresented material evidence relative to the issuance of the search warrant in this matter and that such conduct warrants the suppression of the seized property,” Monroe County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Harlacher Sibum wrote.
Pennsylvania Skill games also have been deemed legal skill games by other courts this year. Pace-O-Matic won a return of property motion in York County. This property – gaming machines, related equipment and cash – was wrongfully seized by BLCE. Click here to read the York County order.
In addition, a Dauphin County judge ruled in favor of the games and against county prosecutors this year. Click here to read the Dauphin County ruling.
“Initially, it is this Court’s belief that the Commonwealth’s investigation shows case bias,” Dauphin County Common Pleas Judge Andrew H Dowling wrote. “The Commonwealth is seeking to make all machines like the POM Machines into illegal gambling devices and their whole approach and intent is to shut down games regardless of the actual gameplay. Thus, the Commonwealth as a whole is biased against the games and their approach lacks case credibility.”
“Pace-O-Matic’s Pennsylvania Skill games are legal,” the counsel for Pace-O-Matic, Matthew Haverstick of Kleinbard LLC, said. “The Commonwealth has wrongfully seized its equipment for years with no credible evidence that the games are illegal. Judges are now carefully looking at the evidence and ruling in our favor.”
“Again, another Pennsylvania court has found that Pennsylvania Skill games, powered by Pace-O-Matic, are legal games of predominant skill,” the Chief Public Affairs Officer for Pace-O-Matic, Mike Barley, said. “With the legality of our games upheld repeatedly, we are eager to work with the legislature to pass legislation that will fairly regulate and tax the skill game industry. In fact, Pace-O-Matic stands out among our competitors as the active driving force seeking additional regulation and taxation.”
Legislation introduced by Pennsylvania Senator Gene Yaw will regulate skill games and tax them at a rate that would generate $300 million a year for the Commonwealth.
Pennsylvania Skill games have been ruled games of predominant skill by courts in Beaver, Dauphin, Monroe and York counties. Additionally, after a review of the law and court decisions, skill games also have been returned in both Clearfield and Delaware counties.
Pennsylvania Skill has pumped new life into the Commonwealth’s small businesses, fraternal and social clubs, volunteer fire companies and veterans’ organizations by providing an entertainment product that the public enjoys. Meanwhile, research data proves skill games do not impact the revenue of casinos and the lottery, both achieving record profits yearly.
Pennsylvania Skill games are manufactured in the Commonwealth and over 90% of the profits stay inside the state. That is unheard of in gaming and many other industries. Pace-O-Matic is proud of its record and looks forward to continuing to benefit Pennsylvania businesses, clubs and taxpayers now and in the future.
As part of ongoing efforts to ensure compliance, Pace-O-Matic employs a team of former state police officers to enforce all terms of contracts and codes of conduct. These contracted terms limit the number of machines, where they are placed in a location and have protections in place to prevent anyone underage from playing the devices.
In 2014, the Beaver County Court of Common Pleas ruled that Pace-O-Matic’s Pennsylvania Skill games are legal as games of predominant skill. Click here to read that court decision.
In addition, last year, the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and the Clearfield County District Attorney’s office negotiated a settlement to return wrongfully seized Pennsylvania Skill games, related equipment and cash. Click here to read that order.
Compliance Updates
JCM Global Receives Approval to Operate in West Virginia
JCM Global announced that it has successfully passed regulatory review and received a manufacturer’s license from the West Virginia Lottery Commission. The license enables JCM to directly sell to and service customers in the state.
“At JCM, we are committed to our customers. While attaining licensing was not required, we pursued it because it allows us to directly provide JCM’s leading technology and advanced systems, backed by our world-class service, and support, resulting in faster service times and simplifying the entire relationship between JCM and our customers,” said JCM SVP – Sales, Marketing & Operations Dave Kubajak in a statement.
JCM recently announced it has attained licenses in Colorado and New Mexico, bringing the company’s total number of active gaming licenses to 177.
In West Virginia, JCM will provide technology, including the iVIZION bill validator; ICB Intelligent Cash Box System, which boosts security and efficiencies across the gaming floor; and the GEN5 thermal printer, which delivers TITO, personalized promotions, and rewards directly to the player.
Compliance Updates
SYNOT Games Officially Certifies Over 140 Games in Brazil
SYNOT Games has announced that more than 140 of its games have now been officially certified in Brazil.
“We are delighted to announce that more than 140 of our games have now been officially certified in Brazil. This significant achievement allows us to expand our reach and introduce a diverse selection of games to this dynamic market. Brazil represents a key opportunity for growth, and we are committed to delivering exceptional gaming experiences to the Brazilian audience,” the Company said.
“We are thrilled to introduce our portfolio in Brazil, offering innovative and engaging gameplay that promises to captivate and entertain players,” Martina Krajci, CCO at SYNOT Games, said.
Compliance Updates
Delasport Now GLI-Certified for Sports Betting in Brazil
Delasport has just become one of the first suppliers to obtain a GLI certification for its sportsbook in Brazil, two weeks before the historical regulation comes into effect.
Continuing its global growth, Delasport is bringing several operators on board in Brazil. In order to complete the process, operators that are applying for a new Brazilian license have 30 days to provide all relevant platform certificates from the moment that they are notified by the regulator that their initial submission has been accepted. This is also the moment that they can pay the license fee. Still, failure to provide platform certificates will result in the application being placed on hold.
Delasport turned to Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) for the certification of its sportsbook against Brazilian technical standards. The historical partnership with GLI was further strengthened by the news, a few months back, that GLI had become the first laboratory to achieve the local accreditation to certify for betting systems, live game studios, and online games by the Secretaria De Prêmios e Apostas (SPA) in Brazil.
Delasport has successfully met all technical requirements for providing its sports betting solution to the largest country in South America. The certificate is evidence of the team’s experience, expertise, and determination to lead the way in key jurisdictions.
Obtaining a GLI certification for Brazil is a step towards cementing the trust players and operators have for Delasport’s products. This serves to show that the award-winning supplier is capable of meeting even the strictest industry standards for integrity and fairness.
“When we learnt that providing platform certificates to the regulator was on our partner operators’ critical path for obtaining the license, we immediately prioritized submitting the system to GLI for testing”, Delasport’s Chief Compliance Officer Filippo Ferri said. “Needless to say, GLI did a tremendous job of working with us to conduct the tests in record time, to match the submission deadline of some of our clients. I am also very proud of how our internal departments worked together to obtain this certificate, and of how they continue to push forward with the delivery of a datavault system that complies with SIGAP requirements.”
Operators that plan on entering the newly regulated Brazilian market will now have numerous advantages if they partner with Delasport. They will be able to provide their players with personalization features like My Sportsbook, My Event Builder, and My Combo that skyrocket revenues and retention.
Furthermore, Delasport’s KYC and AML provider is a market leader that guarantees the highest level of compliance for all operators that choose to go on this route.
Also, Delasport has already partnered with numerous local payment system providers and offers a real-time AI-powered Responsible Gambling system which can easily adapt to local regulations.
Last, but not least, operators will feel Delasport’s support from the get-go all the way to establishing themselves as a market leader. Delasport is knowledgeable of cultural and regional differences and can address all localization needs from the early stages of engagement.
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