Skill Gaming Proponents Rejoice as Virginia Judge Sides with Them

A judge in Virginia has dismissed a lawsuit against a business owner who offered several Queen of Virginia (QVS2) skill machines. Opponents of the vertical were unhappy but small business owners rejoiced.

A Victory of Small Businesses

The lawsuit alleged that David Bogese, who owns the Breez-In Mart, had violated Virginia law by offering several Queen of Virginia skill machines. For context, the Virginia Code says that people may not possess illegal gambling devices.

However, Judge Hugh Campbell of the Hanover County General District Court ruled that the devices in question did not meet the definition of illegal gambling machines. This ruling comes as a relief to small business owners who depend on the machines for extra revenue.

Bogese commented on the matter, saying that Judge Campbell’s ruling was a victory not just for this case and Brezz-In Mart, but for small businesses as a whole.

Judge Campbell Applied the Rule of Lenity

According to the plaintiffs, Virginia’s gaming laws strictly ban gaming devices that require players to insert a coin, bill, ticket or another object in order to launch them. The defense, however, successfully proved that the QVS2 machines at Breez-In Mart did not fit that description since they did not require any objects to be inserted.

For context, the QVS2 machines are developed by Pace-O-Matic, a popular developer of skill gaming products.

While Judge Campbell acknowledged that the current law was somewhat vague, he applied the rule of lenity per which ambiguities are interpreted in the defendant’s favor.

Opponents of Skill Games Were Not Pleased

Opponents of skill gaming, however, were unhappy with the ruling and, in addition to that, criticized Bogese’s reaction, saying that it seeks to mislead the public.

Nick Larson, a representative of Virginians Against Neighborhood Slot Machines, asserted that the statement of the Stanley Law Group, which defended Bogese in court, is attempting to “rewrite history” and claim that skill games are legal when they are not.

“The General Assembly has made it clear: so-called games of skill are illegal,” Larson said.
Larson further criticized the law’s shortcoming, which implies that skill games could be legal as long as the money isn’t inserted directly into the machines but instead handed to a bartender.

Larson emphasized that the legislature’s intent has been that these machines are illegal and slammed what he called “efforts to circumvent” this intent.

Pace-O-Matic, however, reiterated its insistence that its games have been designed to be “fully compliant with the plain language of the law in Virginia.” The company echoed Bogese’s sentiment that the recent court ruling is a win for hundreds of small businesses across the state.

It is still unknown whether the recent court ruling will impact the existing ban on skill games in Virginia.