The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has continued its ongoing onslaught against so-called skill game machines in the province, while the operator named in the regulator’s enforcement notices maintains that his products are illegal.
On Sept. 26, the AGCO announced it removed more than 50 Prime Slot gaming machines from foodservice, hospitality and retail locations across the province in July and August.
The regulator conducted more than 200 inspections at liquor-licensed and lottery retail establishments, and asserted that the machines had been operating unlawfully and without regulatory oversight in locations accessible to minors and other vulnerable groups. It said it took “strong action to protect the public from unregulated gambling machines.”
“Prime Slots machines have been marketed as games that only require skill, but AGCO testing determined that these machines ordinarily rely on chance,” added the AGCO. “Because of this, they are not permitted under Canadian law unless they are from a licensed supplier, approved and used in a regulated space like a casino or charitable gaming centre.”
In July, the Ontario regulator revoked the lottery seller registrations of several Greater Toronto Area retailers after finding the Prime Slot machines on their premises.
“While other jurisdictions grapple with the entrenchment of these unlawful gaming machines, the AGCO has taken a proactive stance to ensure they do not take root here in Ontario,” said AGCO Registrar Dr. Karin Schnarr in a new statement on Friday.
Hold up, says Prime Skill Games CEO
Prime Skill Games CEO Matt Zamrozniak told Canadian Gaming Business on Friday that the AGCO has never contacted his company directly, nor issued any formal order against the company.
“The Commission’s actions have always been aimed at our retail partners, not us,” Zamrozniak added. “Faced with repeated threats to those partners, we made the responsible decision to temporarily suspend certain operations. This was our choice, not the result of any finding against our machines.”
The AGCO contested that version of events, telling Canadian Gaming Business that Prime Skill has never applied to the AGCO for a licence or registration and that the commission did directly engage with Prime Skill regarding their Prime Slot offering.
Meanwhile, Zamrozniak pushed back against the idea that Prime Slot machines constitute illegal gambling, as deemed by the AGCO.
“We remain confident in the legality of our technology,” he added. “Our machines are built on a real skill component, and we are ready at any time to present them for independent testing. Unfortunately, despite repeated requests, AGCO has never given us that opportunity or provided transparent standards for review.”
Back in July, Zamrozniak told Canadian Gaming Business that it intends to prove the legality of its machines and the integrity of its operations “through every available means, whether through legal documentation, expert analysis or, if necessary, before the courts.”
The AGCO maintains that the “real skill component” notion is not the legal standard that defines gambling devices in Canada.
AGCO points to GotSkill? decision
Speaking of the courts, the latest comments from the AGCO and Prime Skill Games come a month after an Ontario Superior Court of Justice judge ruled that electronic terminal games from another company, GotSkill?, effectively amount to gambling
Judge Shaun S. Nakatsuru determined that the machines still cannot be defined as pure games of skill and are instead mixed games of skill and chance which include a “systematic resort to chance” and are therefore gambling.
The AGCO’s regulations cite casino games, raffles and bingo as games of chance, sports as games of skill and blackjack as an example of a game of mixed skill and chance. The regulator said it was pleased with the ruling and was committed to continuing its enforcement action.
While Canadian Gaming Business did not receive a response about the court decision from SBG-Skill Based Games Inc., Prime Skill Games’ Zamrozniak supported the competitor firm on Friday.
“We would much rather compete with a legal Canadian business than with truly illegal machines that operate without accountability,” he said. “We share with GotSkill? the same core principle: that skill-based gaming deserves a fair and transparent evaluation under the law. Our commitment has always been the same: protecting our clients, acting with integrity and pursuing the clarity that AGCO has so far denied us.”
