Is Skill Gaming Reauthorized for VA in 2023? (2023)

Introduction

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration is tentatively backing a top Republican lawmaker’s proposal to reauthorize so-called skill machines in Virginia and use some of the money they generate to crack down on illegal gambling, according to multiple Capitol Square sources.

That stance could potentially mean another reprieve for the slots-like games the state has spent years trying to ban from convenience stores, sports bars and truck stops, only to face sustained lobbying and legal pushback from the industry and its promoters. The state is currently locked in a prolonged court battle with the industry, and officials are unable to enforce the ban on skill machines as that lawsuit proceeds. But a reversal of the state’s official position on skill games could make the lawsuit moot.

House Majority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, said he’s been told he has “possible” administration support for his proposal to let thousands of the machines continue operating and restore an old system of regulation in place before the General Assembly voted to outlaw the games in 2021. That would be a shift from the position of Youngkin’s predecessor, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who allowed the machines to be briefly regulated and taxed to raise money for COVID-19 relief but ultimately followed through on banning them.

Asked if the governor is supporting the bill, Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter didn’t give a direct response.

“The governor has asked stakeholders to come to the table and work on legislation that would crack down on illegal gaming,” Porter said.

Kilgore’s proposal would essentially restore the legal status of a type of video game the General Assembly has tried repeatedly to classify as illegal gambling. But the Youngkin administration appears to view Kilgore’s bill, which has not been heard in the House of Delegates, as the only viable mechanism for raising new funds to go after illegal gambling.

SOURCE: Virginia Mercury. See full article www.virginiamercury.com/2023/01/18/youngkin-said-to-back-push-to-reauthorize-so-called-skill-machines-in-virginia/

Content

Hi I'm Crystal stump, founder and CEO of ABC Consulting and former Virginia ABC special agent from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority.

Thank you for tuning in to this video today we're going to talk about if skill gaming is coming back to Virginia, pour yourself a drink you're going to need it hi welcome back, and thank you for tuning in to this video.

If you've not subscribed to our Channel, please do so we're going to be talking a little bit about skill gaming.

Today, let me give you I'm going to tell you what the latest is and what I know about the skill gaming, possibly coming back to Virginia, but before I jump into that I want to give a little bit history of what happened with skill gaming in Virginia, if you're in the industry or if you were in it a few years ago, you probably know, but if you're new to it, I want to give you a little bit of a background.

So back in 2020 there was a band put in place for skill gaming in Virginia and if you're not familiar with those they they look like slot machines.

You put money into the machine and you control the reels.

You play the reels.

You try to get them to line up some of them.

You answer questions.

There's some sort of skill is.

It is claimed that there's some sort of skill to be able to play these games and if you win the game, then you win money.

So these machines were in a lot of restaurants across the state of Virginia, some convenience stores and they were pretty popular and in 2020 the general assembly did ban skill gaming.

But then, shortly after that, covet happened and the state was obviously concerned about.

You know: income and money and revenue and things like that and the ban was overturned and the skill games were allowed, but every person who had a skill game and placed them in Virginia the game had to be registered and it had to be registered through the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority and it was being regulated by the ABC Authority.

So these games that were registered, they they to be in compliance, they had to be registered and they had to be in an alcohol licensed establishment so that the ABC enforcement division could enforce the compliance of these machines.

These machines operated for a year and then in 2021, the general assembly banned them, and then there was a lawsuit that happened out in the Southwest Virginia part of the state.

You can Google this and look it up to learn the specifics of this lawsuit and I understand that an injunction was put in place and then the games are not being regulated by the state anymore.

It's up to the localities, how they want to handle it, and the controversy is, are these skill games or are they gambling devices and the way that the ABC Authority Under defines? Gambling are three elements you have to have chance prize and consideration to meet the definition of gambling.

So there's some argument there uh to deter an argument to um determine if these are skill games or if they are gambling devices.

So, on January the 18th, just a few days ago, there was an article put out in the Virginia Mercury I will put a link to that article in the description, so click that link to learn more, but there's an article that has come out that the there's possibility that there's going to be a bill introduced in this General Assembly to possibly allow these machines to come back and be authorized and regulated.

If that is the case, more than likely, the regulation will be similar as it was in 2020, so the more than likely and I'm speculating here we don't know but I I.

Imagine the ABC Authority will be um regulating and making sure these games are ran in a compliant manner.

Probably an alcohol license locations again, they'll probably limit the games from 8 to maybe five there's discussion about that.

But just know that if you do want to have these games in Virginia you're more than likely going to have to get them registered and if you just shoot over to VA gamingcompliance.com, that's vagamingcompliance.com, you can get assistance with registering your games and then, once your game is registered, I'm sure there's going to be continued reporting to the state.

That's going to be needed, and possibly more than likely, some sort of tax is going to have to be paid to have these games in Virginia again.

So if you need help with the registering and the reporting and paying the taxes on these games uh, you know hop over to that website or reach out to me here or you can visit our website at vaabc.com.

That's our ABC Consulting website.

So we help our licensees with getting licenses and with the skill gaming.

If these are going to be going an alcohol license locations, we want to make sure that our clients are allowing legal games to come in or games that are being regulated and that those games are being properly reported and that the taxes are being paid on them so that it doesn't hinder any of the alcohol licensed establishments.

So hopefully, if this is something that you're interested in learning more about, there there's a possibility that it might be coming back in 2023 and that's pretty um incredible.

So if you want to learn more about this comment below, if uh tell me what your experience has been with skill gaming in Virginia, where are you located? Uh drop that in the comments below and if you have any questions or you're interested in learning more shoot me a message or visit our website.

Thank you.

So much for watching have a wonderful day cheers.

Thank you.