(AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
State Police seize purported ‘Skill-Based’ gambling devices statewide
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Craig Rhodes
(AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
(Harrisburg) — The Pennsylvania State Police have announced in a new report that troopers and liquor control enforcement officers have seized a total of 71 illegal gambling machines from 17 licensed liquor establishments. 65 of the devices were video gambling devices with some marked as “skill machines.”
The report says the confiscations occurred between January 22nd and February 25th of this year and that investigations are ongoing and more seizures are expected.
“Illegal, unregulated gambling is a serious – and growing – problem facing the commonwealth, with video gambling devices spreading beyond licensed liquor establishments into convenience stores, malls, and restaurants,” said Captain Jeffrey Rineer, acting director of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. “So far in 2020, gambling machine seizures have been reported from every BLCE office, in counties from Erie to Philadelphia.”
The report shows that 29 of the machines seized were from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh,.. however 12 others were from Punxsutawney in Jefferson County.
State Police say they also seized more than $115,000 are part of the investigations.
They say people who engage in illegal gambling risk criminal prosecution. In addition to criminal penalties, licensed liquor establishments engaging in illegal gambling activity are subject to administrative penalties under the liquor code.
“Illegal gambling devices, including video machines marketed as ‘games of skill,’ put consumers at risk because they lack outside monitoring to confirm fair payouts,” said Captain Rineer. “They also cause economic losses to the commonwealth because there is no mechanism in place to ensure appropriate taxes are being paid, and there is no public interest requirement for the proceeds, as exists with legal gambling in Pennsylvania.”
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