Ontario Regulators Crack Down on Unregulated Gaming Machines in Toronto Area

^{Machines from Prime Skill Games, which the company claims are skill-based rather than traditional gambling machines, pictured inside an arcade, where they are still labeled as "slots." (Photo: Courtesy of Ontario Skill Games)}

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) announced July 17 that it had revoked the lottery seller registrations from multiple retailers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) after finding that they were offering unapproved gambling machines out of their convenience stores.

The AGCO said the machines were from the Prime Slot brand provided by Prime Skill Games, a company that provides what it calls skill-based machines to retailers in Ontario.

Manufacturer Disputes Legal Standing of Skill Games

In a press release, the AGCO said that it would “take every action within its authority to protect the public against the risks that these unregulated machines pose – particularly in locations easily accessible to children and youth.”

“Over the past decade, unregulated gaming machines have increasingly proliferated across North America,” The AGCO said in its statement. “While they largely rely on chance like traditional slot machines, manufacturers have claimed they are games of skill and have installed terminals in convenience stores and other locations where gaming machines would otherwise be prohibited.”

Lottery sellers hit by the AGCO sanctions have 15 days to appear to the Licence Appeal Tribunal, a body that is part of Tribunals Ontario and operates independently of the AGCO.

The move caught the ire of the manufacturer of the machines, with the company’s CEO saying that the games don’t constitute gambling.

“Let me be perfectly clear. Our machines are not gambling devices,” Matt Zamrozniak, CEO of Prime Skill Games Inc., said in a statement. “They are entirely skill-based, fully compliant with the law, and built on the fundamental idea that players are in control. The outcome of every session is determined solely by the player’s ability, not by random chance.”

Zamrozniak also said the company would continue to defend itself and retailers that chose to carry its machines.

“We stand firmly behind the legality of our machines and the integrity of our operations,” the statement read. “We will demonstrate this through every available means, whether through legal documentation, expert analysis, or, if necessary, before the courts. We are prepared and unafraid to defend the truth.”

Regulators Across North America Battle Unregulated Gambling

Ontario has offered lottery games since 1975, and has had land-based gambling since 1994, when the Casino Windsor opened. In 2022, the province launched iGaming Ontario, offering online casinos in Ontario, as well as sports betting and lottery purchases.

As the AGCO mentioned in its press release, regulators across North America have increasingly been struggling with how to deal with skill games in recent years. Pennsylvania in particular has been wrangling with both the legality of skill games and how communities can have control over the machines. 

But the controversy over these machines extends far beyond Pennsylvania. The American Gaming Association has asked the US Department of Justice to crack down on skill games - along with other forms of unregulated gambling – in order to protect the regulated industry that has proliferated across the United States.

For Canadian players who prefer regulated options, there are also plenty of slot sites in Canada that provide a safe, legal way to spin the reels without the uncertainty of unapproved machines.